15th European Democracy Conference

» Expert Symposium | Tuesday, 2 July 2024, 9:00 - 16:00

» Public Panel Discussion | Tuesday, 2 July 2024, 18:00 - 20:00

Europe has voted. The results show that the conservative EPP and the far-right groups ECR and ID have emerged stronger from the election. The liberal Renew group and the Greens/EFA, on the other hand, have suffered heavy losses. While there is still a pro-democratic and pro-European majority in the European Parliament, it has shrunk in favour of far-right parties. In times, which are characterised by wars and conflicts, the rise of authoritarian regimes, climate change and a crisis-ridden economy, the result poses immense challenges for the EU.

Four weeks after the elections to the European Parliament, we therefore want to analyze the election results with European experts, media professionals, academics and actors from an active and courageous civil society. We want to scrutinize the causes and consequences of this trend and discuss how the new electoral majority structure will affect the European Parliament's ability to operate, the interaction between the European institutions and the future political direction of EU policy.

• How should the results be assessed and what are the causes of voting behavior? What national differences in voting behavior can be identified?
• How will the new majority structure affect the work in the European Parliament? How can cooperation with the European Council and the new European Commission be developed?
• How can the EU overcome the current major challenges and continue to drive forward its agenda for transformation despite this shift to the right?
• How can the EU drive forward its reform and enlargement agenda and what contribution can Germany make to this?
• What can we learn from the bright spots where a political return to the path of democracy was possible, such as in the Czech Republic and Poland?

Twitter: #WeNeedEU

We are delighted to welcome:

• Tarik Abou-Chadi, Professor in European Politics, Nuffield College, University of Oxford
• Jan Philipp Albrecht, Co-President, Heinrich Böll Foundation
• Annika Brockschmidt, Journalist and Author, Berlin
• Heidi Hautala, Member of the European Parliament, Greens/EFA
• Costanza Hermanin, Assistant Professor, European University Institute
• Max Krahé, Research Director and Co-Founder, Dezernat Zukunft, Berlin
• Ricarda Lang, Federal Chairperson, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen
• Martyna Linartas, Doctoral Candidate, FU Berlin and Founder of ungleichheit.info
• Anna Lührmann, Minister of State for Europe and Climate, Federal Foreign Office
• Renata Mieńkowska-Norkiene, Professor of Political Science, Warsaw University
• Thu Nguyen, Deputy Director, Jacques Delors Centre, Berlin
• Merijn Oudenampsen, Political Sociologist, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
• Corina Stratulat, Associate Director, European Policy Centre
• Shahin Vallée, Senior Research Fellow, Center for Geopolitics, Geoeconomics, and Technology, German Council on Foreign Relations
• Chris Vrettos, Associate at REScoop.eu and Electra Energy Cooperative, Brussels
• Edit Zgut-Przybylska, Political Scientist, Polish Academy of Science

The preliminary programme for the expert symposium and public panel discussion can be found below.

Free entry

Languages
The conference will be held in German and English. Respective simultaneous translation is available. 

Project management
Claudia Rothe, Policy Advisor, Heinrich-Böll-Foundation, Berlin
E: rothe@boell.de, T: +49 (0)30 285 34 385

For all further questions, please contact
Georg McCutcheon, Project Officer, Heinrich-Böll-Foundation, Berlin
E: mccutcheon@boell.de, T: +49 (0)30 285 34 389

Mara Wüst, Project Management Consultant, Berlin
E: euquovadis@boell.de, T: +49 (0)171 2033434

» Participation on site
at the the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Conference Center, Schumannstr. 8, 10117 Berlin

Please register. Unfortunately, the number of seats is limited. Should the room capacity be exhausted, we will transmit the conference via video to other rooms. We would like to point out that there is no entitlement to a seat in the room.