Events

Europe in the World

Looking back: State of the Union Conference 2021
28 Sep - 30 Sep 2021
Source: European flag / Canva
Introduction

It's a wrap, the conference has ended. All the recordings are available on YouTube.

Watch Day 1, 2  & 3 back on YouTube or read our Daily Report of Day 1, 2 and 3.

Read the opening statement by Monika Sie Dhian Ho.

Towards European narratives in a global context?

Two weeks after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers her State of the Union speech at the European Parliament, the Clingendael Institute will organise its annual State of the Union conference on the 28th, 29th and 30th of September. This year’s (online) edition is dedicated to the theme of ‘European narratives’.

With a total of ten webinars, we aim to reflect on great power narratives, Europe’s capacity to accommodate 27 Member State narratives on Europe, and on how new paradigms and narratives are developed in strategic areas such as security, climate, industrial policies and the eurozone. Furthermore, we will discuss the main narrators in Europe, also against the background of the upcoming German elections.

We are delighted to announce that Clément Beaune, Minister of State for European Affairs of France and Tom de Bruijn, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands will open the conference with keynote speeches. On that scene-setting day, we will also discuss great power narratives with professor Zhang Weiwei, Director of the China Institute, Fudan University in Shanghai. On the second day, a moderated conversation is scheduled with the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU Gašper Dovžan, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia.

Watch below a sneak peak of our programme. 

Full programme and speakers

All times are Central European Time. Click on the links to look back on YouTube.

Tuesday 28 September

09:50-10:00 Opening statement by Monika Sie Dhian Ho, General Director of the Clingendael Institute

10:00-10:45 Keynote speeches

  • Clément Beaune, Minister of State for European Affairs of France
  • Tom de Bruijn, Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation
  • Moderator: Rem Korteweg, Senior Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute

11:30-12:45 Online conversation ‘European narratives of the Member States: unity in diversity?

  • Adriaan Schout, Senior Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute and Professor of European Public Administration at the Faculty of Management Sciences of Radboud University
  • Barbara Lippert, Director of Research in the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP)
  • Antonio Villafranca, Director of Studies and Co-Head of the Center on Europe & Global Governance, Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI)
  • Anita van den Ende, Director-General for European Cooperation at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  • Moderator: Hussein Kassim, Professor of Politics at the University of East Anglia and Wouter Zweers Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute

13:30-14:15 Moderated conversation

  • Zhang Weiwei, Director of the China Institute of Fudan University
  • Moderators: Monika Sie Dhian Ho, General Director of the Clingendael Institute and Frans-Paul van der Putten, Senior Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute

14:45-16:00 Online conversation ‘Great power narratives: a battle of narratives or making the world safe for diversity

  • Frans-Paul van der Putten, Senior Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute
  • Paul van Hooft, Senior Strategic Analyst at The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS)
  • Mark Elchardus, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the Free University Brussels
  • Karin Mössenlechner, Director Asia and Oceania at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
  • Column by Ties Dams, Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute
  • Moderators: Monika Sie Dhian Ho, General Director of the Clingendael Institute and Xiaoxue Martin, Junior Researcher at the Clingendael Institute

Read our Daily Report of Day 1.

Wednesday 29 September

09:30-10:15 Keynote speech and moderated conversation

  • The Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU: Gašper Dovžan, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia
  • Moderators: Louise van Schaik, Head of Unit EU & Global Affairs at the Clingendael Institute and Nienke van Heukelingen, Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute

11:00-12:15 Online conversation ‘Security narratives for a geopolitical Europe

  • Scene setting column by Arnout Brouwers, Diplomatic correspondent at de Volkskrant
  • Joanneke Balfoort, Director Security and Defence Policy at European External Action Service (EEAS)
  • Dick Zandee, Head of the Security Unit at the Clingendael Institute
  • Jana Puglierin, Senior Policy Fellow and Head of the Berlin office at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR)
  • Sander van der Sluis, Head of EU Defence Policy Section | Dutch Ministry of Defence
  • Moderators: Bob Deen, Senior Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute and Adája Stoetman, Junior Researcher at the Clingendael Institute

13:30-14:45 Online conversation 'European Green Deal or Dream?'

  • Yvon Slingenberg, Director at the European Commission’s director general for Climate Action (DG CLIMA)
  • Piotr Arak, Director of the Polish Economic Institute
  • Rebecca Collyer, Director for International Clean Energy at the European Climate Foundation (ECF)
  • Column by Heleen Ekker, Climate and energy journalist at De Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS)
  • Moderator: Louise van Schaik, Head of Unit EU & Global Affairs at the Clingendael Institute and Giulia Cretti, Junior Researcher at the Clingendael Institute

15:30-16:45 Online conversation ‘New industrial policy narratives

  • Reinhilde Veugelers, Professor at KU Leuven at the Department of Management, Strategy and Innovation
  • Malorie Schaus, Researcher at the Centre for European Policy Studies, Coordinator Task Force on the New Industrial Strategy for Europe
  • Maaike Okano-Heijmans, Senior Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute
  • Focco Vijselaar, Director General for Enterprise and Innovation at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy
  • Moderators: Rem Korteweg, Senior Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute and Brigitte Dekker, Junior Researcher at the Clingendael Institute

Read our Daily Report of Day 2.

Thursday 30 September

09:30-10:45 Online conversation ‘Narratives on solidarity and solidity in the eurozone

  • Maria Demertzis, Deputy Director at Bruegel
  • Lex Hoogduin, Professor Economics of Complexity and Uncertainty in Financial Markets and Financial Institutions at the University of Groningen
  • Daniel Gros, Director of the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
  • Michel Heijdra, Director of International Financial Affairs Directorate / deputy Treasurer General at Ministerie van Financiën
  • Moderators: Adriaan Schout, Senior Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute and Professor of European Public Administration at the Faculty of Management Sciences of Radboud University and Luuk Molthof, Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute

13:30-14:45 Online conversation ‘Leadership and narrators in Europe

  • Scene setting column by René Cuperus, Senior Research Associate at the Clingendael Institute
  • Hugo Brady, Senior Strategic Advisor at the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) and former advisor to European Council President, Donald Tusk
  • Saar van Bueren, Advisor Political and Strategic Communications at the Party of European Socialists (PES) and former advisor to Vice President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans
  • Luuk van Middelaar, Professor at the Europa Institute of Leiden University and former advisor to European Council President, Herman Van Rompuy
  • Moderator: Duncan Robinson, Brussels bureau chief at The Economist

17:00-18:00 Concluding reflections & the Netherlands’ EU-narrative

  • Saïd Fazili, Diplomatic advisor Europe at the Office of the Dutch Prime Minister
  • Robert de Groot, Permanent representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the European Union
  • Moderator: Monika Sie Dhian Ho, General Director of the Clingendael Institute and Nienke van Heukelingen, Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute

Read our Daily Report of Day 3.