10th Anniversary CLEER Conference - EU external relations: Tackling global challenges?

From Trump to Brexit, from an assertive Russia to the continuing migrant crises, and from the public outcry towards multilateral trade to the rise of populism, these days working in hardly any EU policy area is ‘business as usual’. The EU and its Member States face unprecedented challenges, in globalisation, trade, multilateralism and changes in the global order. How to attain the external objectives as laid down in the EU treaties?

CLEER, the Centre for the Law of EU External Relations, celebrates its 10^th Anniversary with a two-day academic conference on EU External Relations: Tackling global challenges? This conference brings together world-leading academics, practitioners and policy makers from the extensive international network of CLEER.

The conference takes stock of the EU actions (and reactions) through external action instruments in areas such as migration, trade, and neighbouring policies. It reflects on the EU as a global actor and a ‘normative power’, both empowered and constrained by its unique legal framework. Top speakers will discuss the appropriateness and effectiveness of the institutional structures underpinning EU external action in addressing today’s challenges. They will discuss key developments in migration, asylum and human rights, sustainability, trade agreements, investment and Brexit, and will suggest possible ways forward.

Application

• Registration for this programme is now open, please confirm your attendance by completing the registration form and online payment via the register button.

Please read the Registration Information and Conditions carefully before registration.

Conference fees:
Regular fee: €100
Student fee: €50
Members of CLEER Network: Free

Academic coordination of this Conference is provided by CLEER Executive Board Members Prof. Christina Eckes (University of Amsterdam) Prof. Andrea Ott (Maastricht University), Prof Peter van Elsuwege (University of Ghent), Prof. Ramses Wessel (University of Twente), Dr. Wybe Douma, and Dr. Enrico Partiti (T.M.C. Asser Institute).

CLEER is an academic platform for research coordination and cooperation between its members in view of joint events, joint publications, and funding opportunities. Since 2008 it links world-leading EU external relations experts from universities and institutions in the Netherlands and in Europe. 

Programme
DAY 1: Thursday 6 December 2018

09:15-09:30: Registration and coffee
09:30: Opening remarks from CLEER Board (Prof. Ramses Wessel, University of Twente)
09:45-10:30: Keynote presentation – Prof. Enzo Cannizzaro (La Sapienza University, Rome) 
10:30-10:45: Discussion

10:45-11:00: Break

11:00-12:30
Panel 1 - The EU as a global actor and normative power
Chair: Prof. Andrea Ott (University of Maastricht) 

• Dr Anne Thies (University of Reading) - Structural principles of EU law and Member States’ obligations to empower the EU as a global actor
• Gesa Kübek (University of Passau) - The new architecture for designing EU trade and investment agreements: consequences for the EU's and the Member States' global actorness
• Prof. Delphine Dero-Bugny – Dr Julia Motte-Baumvol (University of Paris Descartes) - Shaping EU external relations beyond treaty-making: the scope of extraterritorial EU regulations and their enforcement challenges

Lunch 12:30-13:30

13:30-15:00
Panel 2 - The normative framework of EU external action
Chair: Prof. Christina Eckes (University of Amsterdam)

• Dr Pauline Melin (University of Maastricht) - On the road to the adoption of the Global compact on migration: limits of the EU external action in migration policies
• Dr Merijn Chamon (University of Ghent) - The continued development of the ERTA jurisprudence as a limit to facultative mixity in the post-Lisbon legal order
• Dr Eva Kassoti (The Hague University) -  Between Sollen and Sein: The CJEU’s reliance on international law in the interpretation of economic agreements covering occupied territories

15:00-15:15: Break

15:15-16:45
Panel 3 - EU external relations law and protection of human rights
Chair: Dr Enrico Partiti

• Dr Narine Ghazaryan (University of Nottingham) - The intertwining of security and human rights: the European Union’s approach towards the trafficking of human beings in its relations with the Eastern neighbourhood
• Dr Alfredo dos Santos Soares (University of Madrid/ University of Strathclyde) - EU’s cooperation with third countries on migration and asylum with special mention of the case in Libya
• Prof. Juan Santos Vara(University of Salamanca) -The externalization of EU migration policies: A challenge to human rights

18:00  Dinner for the speakers

DAY 2: Friday 7 December 2018

9:30-10:15 - Keynote Presentation – Prof. Christophe Hillion (University of Oslo, Norway, University of Leiden, the Netherlands)
10:15-10:30: Discussion

10:30 - 12:00
Panel 4 - EU external relations and Brexit
Chair: Prof. Peter van Elsuwege (University of Ghent)

• Dr Joris Larik (University of Leiden) - Global Brexit: The Future of external treaty relations between Europe and its major partners
• Dr Federico Casolari (University of Bologna) - The implementation of the principle of sincere cooperation while leaving the European Union
• Prof. Eleftheria Neframi and Dr Mauro Gatti  (University of Luxemburg) - The UK as third state in EU external relations

12:00-13:00: Lunch

13:00-14:45
Panel 5 - Trade and global challenges
Chair: Dr Wybe Douma  

• Dr Iveta Alexovicova (University of Maastricht) - Enforceability of sustainability provisions in EU free trade agreements
• Melanie Theisinger (University of Rotterdam - Outsourcing the promotion of EU standards?
• Isabella Mancini (City University of London) - The place of fundamental rights in the new generation of EU trade agreements
• Dr Blerina Xheraj (University of Geneva) - Limits to the use of the EU ISDS and its impact on the EU MIC proposal

14:45-15:00: Break

15:00-16:00
High-level Round Table on the Future of EU External Relations

• Inge Govaere (University of Ghent)
• Steven Blockmans (CEPS, University of Amsterdam)
• Isabelle Bosse-Platière (Rennes University)
• Piet Eeckhout  (University College London)

16:00-16:45: Keynote Presentation – Prof. Marise Cremona (European University Institute) ‘Structural Principles in EU External Relations Law’
16:45-17:00: Discussion
17:00: Closing remarks by CLEER Board
17:15: Reception

For the full programme in PDF format click here.