Carnegie Europe, the European University Institute, CEU Democracy Institute and the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU held a conference on Oct 14 in Brussels.
The event sought to outline a credible, step-by-step pathway for making EU enlargement a political, economic, and societal win-win. It brought together experts, policymakers, and opinion leaders to explore how institutional procedures and economic transitions can be better aligned with durable public support, solidarity, and the fair redistribution of resources, power, and influence.
In the opening discussion, Laszlo Bruszt (CEU Democracy Institute) joined Cristina Gherasimov, Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration of Moldova, and Taras Kachka, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, to examine how the EU’s expansion could be made both politically and economically advantageous and sustainable for all parties involved.
Taras Kachka said, “We share the vision of the priorities of Denmark’s presidency in the EU Council: a strong Europe must take responsibility for its own security and protect its strategic interests. Ukraine is ready to make its important contribution to the realization of this vision.”
The first panel, moderated by Erik Jones (Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute) focused on the three pillars of security, democracy, and development, which must reinforce one another. Stefan Lehne (Carnegie Europe), Eulalia Rubio (Jacques Delors Institute) and Giulio Venneri,(DG ENESTA.1), discussed how the next phase of EU enlargement presents a historic opportunity to reconceive enlargement as a catalyst for renewing the European economic model.
The second panel examined how to sustain political and public backing for enlargement by turning solidarity from a transient sentiment into a durable set of rules, institutions, and practices. Laszlo Bruszt, Veronica Anghel, (Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute) and Matthias Thiemann (Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics, Sciences Po Paris) spoke about reframing enlargement as a shared project.
The conference concluded with remarks provided by Ihor Guzhva (director – Ukrainian State Research Institute of Economic Modelling and Transformatisation).