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01.07.2021
Online Lecture: How to understand the conclusions of the European Council on Turkey?

1 July 2021 | 16:00 CET | Zoom

Speaker:
Prof. Dr. Senem Aydın Düzgit | Sabancı University, Istanbul
Dr. Funda Tekin | Institut für Europäische Politik, Berlin
Prof. Wolfgang Wessels | University of Cologne

Introduction:
Harun Suratlı | University of Cologne

Full agenda here

04.06.2021
The Common Security and Defence Policy of the European Union

4 June 2021 | 14:00 CET | Zoom
Joint Online Panel - University of Cologne and Charles University Prague

Speaker:
Dr. Sandra Fernandes | University of Minho
Dr. Daniel Fiott | EU Institute for Security Studies
Prof. Andrew Cottey | University College Cork
Prof. Wolfgang Wessels | CETEUS, University of Cologne

Moderation:
Dr. Tomáš Weiss | Charles University

Prior registration here.

Full agenda here

26.05.2021
Online Debate: European Sovereignty: A New Challenge for the European Council

Online Debate | 26 May | 17:00 (CET) | Zoom

Speakers:

Sébastien Maillard | Director at Jacques Delors Institute Paris
Wolfgang Wessels | Director at CETEUS, University of Cologne
Ricardo Perissich | Member of the Board of Directors, Jacques Delors Institute
Salih Bora | Doctoral Fellow, CERI, Sciences Po Paris
Moderation: Christian Lequesne | Professor of Political Science, SciencesPo Paris

Prior registration here.

Full agenda here

25.05.2021
Online Debate: The European Council's Corona Crisis Management: Recovery and Resilience Facility

Online Debate | 25 May 2021 | 11:00 CET | Zoom

Speakers:
Michele Chang | Professor at College of Europe, Bruges
Lucas Schramm | PhD Researcher at European University Institute, Fiesole
Ivo Šlosarčík | Director of European Integration Studies Program, Charles University
Wolfgang Wessels | Director of Centre for Turkey & EU Studies, University of Cologne

Moderation:
Harun Suratlı
| Executive Manager at Centre for Turkey & EU Studies, University of Cologne

Prior registration here
Full agenda here

11.05.2021
Online Debate: Does Geography Matter? The European Council torn (or divided) by North and South, East and West

Online Debate | 11 May | 15:00 (CET) | Zoom

Europe is often claimed to be a divided continent. Is geography the main factor behind these divisions and in which sense? How is geography related to other issues? And how does this connect to the work of the European Council? These questions will be discussed by a group of prominent experts in a webinar organized jointly by the University of Cologne and the Swedish Institute of International Affairs.

Speakers:
Wolfgang Wessels | University of Cologne
Annika Ström Melin | Independent writer, journalist and lecturer
Gianni Bonvicini | Istituto Affari Internazionali
Mats Braun | Metropolitan University
Chair: Gunilla Herolf | Swedish Institute of International Affairs

Prior registration here.

Full agenda here.

06.05.2021
Online Lecture: The European Union’s Green Leadership and the European Council

6 May 2021 | 14:00 CET | Zoom

Speaker:
Niklas Helwig | Finish Institute of International Affairs
Juha Jokela | Finish Institute of International Affairs
Marco Siddi | Finish Institute of International Affairs
Prof. Wolfgang Wessels | CETEUS, University of Cologne

Prior registration here.

Full agenda here

27.04.2021
Online Diskussion: Der Europäische Rat und die deutsche EU-Ratspräsidentschaft 2020

Online Diskussion | 27. April | 18:00 Uhr | Zoom

Deutschland hat in der zweiten Jahreshälfte 2020 die EU-Ratspräsidentschaft übernommen und stand dabei vor der Herausforderung eine Einigung zum mehrjährigen Finanzrahmen der EU sowie zur Aufbau- und Resilienzfazilität herbeizuführen. Babara Lippert (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik) und Janis Emmanouilidis (European Policy Centre) diskutieren, inwiefern Deutschland die Erwartungen und Herausforderungen der Ratspräsidentschaft gemeistert hat und welche Rolle Deutschland zukünftig nach der Bundestagswahl im Herbst 2021 in der EU und insbesondere im Europäischen Rat einnehmen wird.

Eine Anmeldung zur Veranstaltung ist hier möglich.

Das Programm ist hier abrufbar.

26.04.2021
Online Lecture: Small States and the rise of the European Council

Online Lecture | 26 April | 10:00 | Zoom

The University of Cologne and the Charles University are organizing a joint online lecture on small states within the European Council. Tomáš Weiss (Charles University) and Wolfgang Wessels (University of Cologne) will discuss the institutional structure of the European Union from the perspective of small states with a special focus on the European Council and the establishment of its permanent president: Has it changed anything from the perspective of small states? Are small states heard in European Council?

Prior registration here.

Full agenda here.

23.04.2021
Online Debate: The European Council’s External Action: The Case of the Arab-Israeli Process and the Middle East Peace Process

Online Debate | 23 April | 10:00 (CET) | Zoom

The Resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict is strongly embedded in the European Union's external action striving for a two-state solution with an independent, democratic, viable and contiguous Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace and security with Israel and its other neighbours. The panel will discuss the actual role of the European Union and particularly the European Council for the Arab-Isreali process and the Middle East Peace Process.

Speakers:
Daniela Huber | Istituto Affari Internazionali
Eduard Soler i Lecha | Barcelona Centre for International Affairs
Inès Abdel Razek | AlShabaka - The Palestinian Policy Network

Prior registration here.

Full agenda here.

20.04.2021
Online Lecture: The European Council in the EU´s External Action

20 April 2021 | 14:00 CET | Zoom

Speaker:

Wolfgang Wessels | University of Cologne

Prior registration here.

Full agenda here.

15.04.2021
Online Debate: The European Council's Agenda: towards a European Strategic Autonomy?

Online Debate | 15 April | 15:00 (CET)

The strategic independence of Europe is our new common project for this century. Autonomy is not protectionism; it is the opposite" European Council President Charles Michel said last year in September.
However, the debate on a European Strategic Autonomy is quite controversy and lacks a common concept among academia as well as among politicians from the Brussels arena. Why is the achievement of a common understanding of the nature of strategic autonomy as a common EU project so important? Should the topic of achieving strategic autonomy be discussed at the Conference on the Future of Europe?

Speakers:
Mathias Jopp | Institute for European Politics
Maxime Lefebvre | ESCP Business School
Ingrid Shikova | Sofia University
Wolfgang Wessels | University of Cologne

Prior registration here.

Full agenda here.

30.03.2021
Luncheon Debate: EU-Turkey Relations following the European Council: Can a Positive Agenda work?

EU-Turkey relations are at a crossroads between sanctions, de-escalation and a positive agenda. What are possible scenarios after the 25-26 March European Council? How united are the member states and how sincere is Turkey’s reiterated commitment to the EU? Which role does Turkey play in German foreign policy and what repercussions does it have on Germany’s domestic situation? How does Greece evaluate the conclusions of the European Council and the role of the European Union in the resolution of Greek-Turkish disputes?

Speakers:
Senem Aydin Düzgit | Sabancı University
Panagiotis Ioakeimidis | University of Athens
Dimitris Kairidis | Panteion University
Wolfgang Wessels | University of Cologne

Moderation: Ioannis N. Grigoriadis | ELIAMEP & Funda Tekin Institut für Europäische Politik (IEP), Berlin

Full agenda here

05.03.2021
Online Lecture: The institutional Dimension of EU External Relations

05 March 2021 | 14:30 CET | Zoom

Speakers:
The European Council´s Role in European Union Foreign Affairs
Wolfgang Wessels | University of Cologne

The European Union’s Political Order in the Global Context
Sergio Fabbrini | Luiss University

Informal Governance and Differentiation in EU Foreign Policy
Maria Giulia Amadio Viceré | Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, Eun

Chair: Thomas Christiansen | Luiss University

Full agenda here.

Online Lecture Series: The European Council as the manager of the Corona crisis

Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, TRACK launched an online lecture series on the role of the European Council as a crisis manager and have contributed to several online lectures on the European Council:

  • 9 March 2021: The role of the European Council within the EU in managing the Covid-19 crisis: a transformative actor once again?, Vilnius University
  • 11 February 2021: The European Council´s Crisis Management. College of Europe, Bruges. 
  • 22 January 2021: Steering the EU in pandemic times: The European Council between strategic responses and institutional reforms. Istituto Affari Internazionali, Rome.
  • 9 December 2020: The fight of the Union against the Corona pandemic: the key role of the European Council with its financial package of July 2020. Centre international de formation européene, Nice.
  • 2 December 2020: Der Europäische Rat und Brexit. Student Association Asgard Cologne, Cologne
  • 26 November 2020: TRACK Contribution to the Conference: "Die neue Europäische Union. Zwischen Integration und Desintegration", Europa-Kolleg Hamburg, Institute for European Integration.
  • 27 October 2020: TRACK Contribution to the ZiF Conference "Die EU zwischen Konfusion und Vision", Bielefeld
  • 21 July 2020: Der Gipfel des Europäischen Rates. Rotary Club Cologne, Cologne
  • 4 July 2020: In view of decisions of the European leaders: will the EU budget be able to save the Union? European Online Academy, Berlin
  • 3 July 2020: TRACK Contribution to the European Liberal Forum: Expert Forum - Liberal White Book Europe 2030
  • 2 July 2020: Konflikte und Kontroversen ums Geld: Ergebnisse des Europäischen Rates und Perspektiven der deutschen Ratspräsidentschaft", Europa Union Köln, Cologne
  • 1 July 2020: The Covid-19 Crisis and Financial Challenges in Europe: Debating the key role of the European Council, European University Institute, Florence
  • 19 June 2020: The EU after the German Constitutional Court's ECB Ruling - What's next? Centre international de formation européene (Cife), Nice
  • 17 June 2020: European Council and EU Response to Covid Crisis, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw
  • 24 April 2020: The European Council as a crisis manager during the corona pandemix, Collegue of Europe, Natolin
TRACK (Online) Teaching
College of Europe

Professor Wessels regularly teaches the European Council at the College of Europe in Bruges and Natolin.

This year's winter term (20/21), he holds the lecture: "The European Council: A Real World Analysis of the Leaders' Institution with Practical Exercises and Insights".

Who holds power in the EU? After decades of scholarly analyses of the EU decision-making processes, the answer to that question is still not clear, what is clear though, is that each institution displays a specific range of strategies to maximize its own power. This course takes a specific interest in the perspective of the Member States of the European Union. What power games, strategies, do national leaders, government and civil servants play to reach a leadership position or maintain it, both individually and collectively.

 

Turkish German University, Istanbul

Professor Wessels further regularly teaches the European Union and the European Council in particular at the Turkish Germany University in Istanbul. In this year's winter term (20/21), he holds the course "The Political System of the New EU: The Architecture after Lisbon".

Public Lectures
Public Lecture No.9

TRACK is co-organizing a seminar on the role of the European Council in the Brexit negotiation at the University of Cologne. The seminar is embedded into an interdisciplinary and international event bringing together advanced students from Political Sciences and Law Departments. It combines the application of political and legal knowledge with elements of a simulation exercise. Find out more...

Public Lecture No.8

Wolfgang Wessels (TRACK & University of Cologne) contributed to the CEPS Ideas Lab on 6 March 2020 in Brussels. Besides, Luuk van Middelaar (Leiden University), Michael Karnitschnig (Secretariat General, European Commission) and Christine Neuhold (TRACK & Maastricht University) discussed the power position of the European Council within the institutional architecture of the EU.

Read the full report here.

Public Lecture No.7

In the framework of the Seniorenstudium of the University of Cologne, TRACK contributed a lecture on 23 January 2020 broaching the issue of current challenges that the EU has to face. In this context, especially the impetus of the European Council has been highlighted.

Read the full report here.

Public Lecture No. 6

On 22 January 2020, TRACK prepared one session of the Erasmus lecture by Darius Ribbe (University of Cologne) on the role of the European Council regarding the democratization of the European Central Bank's Executive Board.

Read the full report here.

Public Lecture No.5

In the framework of the conference of the European Online Academy, TRACK organized a public lecture on “The European Council facing conflicts over the Multiannual Financial Framework (2021 to 2027)" at the Centre International de Formation Européenne (Cife) in Berlin on 9 January 2020.

Read the full report here.

Public Lecture No. 4

Wolfgang Wessels, University of Cologne, held a public lecture on "The Transformation of the European Council since the Eurozone Crisis" at the Charles University Prague on 11 December 2019

Read the full report here

Public Lecture No.3

The third TRACK public lecture was held on “Macron and the strategic agenda 2019-2024” at the Institut Francais on 21 November 2019. Maxime Lefebvre, French Diplomat, and Wolfgang Wessels, University of Cologne, discussed the French-German relation within the European Union.

Read the full report here

Public Lecture No.2

TRACK organized a public lecture in the framework of the TRIANGLE International Workshop "The EU-German-Turkish TRIANGLE after the European elections: Narratives, change and continuity" on 30 October 2019. Wolfgang Wessels (University of Cologne) discussed the relation between the European Council and Turkey. 

Read the full report here

Public Lecture No.1

The first TRACK public lecture took place on 15 October 2019 at the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey on "The role and performance of the European Council as an actor in the international relations".  Wolfgang Wessels (University of Cologne) discussed internal dynamics of the European Council as well as its function as a global actor. 

Read the full report here