EURINT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTRE FOR EUROPEAN STUDIES „ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA”  UNIVERSITY  Iași  ROMANIA
EURINT 2017 European Union at crossroads: building resilience in times of change 19-20 May, 2017 Centre for European Studies, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iaşi, Romania
CONFERENCE RATIONALE & TOPICS Today’s European Union (EU) is being confronted with both economic and political challenges. The economic challenges are associated with the post-crisis recovery, while the political challenges stem from the rise of nationalism which has recently hit the EU. Against this background, the Centre for European Studies within Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, is organizing the sixth edition of EURINT, which will focus on the resilience capacity of the EU to react to these challenges. Resilience is a concept which has increasingly been used in the general public discourse, as well as within the EU debates in relation to economic development, but also to the security and defence issues. Moreover, various organizations and agencies, research institutes and experts in various areas are proposing resilience analyses as being the most appropriate alternative to replace other key concepts in designing the European and national policies. This is due to the resilience capacity to accommodate the multitude of factors and conditions that influence long-term growth and development in a systemic approach. After the recent economic crisis, most of the European countries did not manage to get back on the growth path, and they are still facing a sluggish growth. Understanding the factors that foster / undermine economic resilience is the key to a faster recovery.  Besides the economic issues, further challenges have emerged, testing the EU’s cohesion. The refugee crisis forced the EU to deal with huge refugee inflows escaping conflict in their country, which has generated internal concerns over how to deal best with resettling people. Soon after, the Brexit referendum has further challenged the EU’s internal stability and questioned the viability of the European project on the long-term. Therefore, faced with the current economic crisis affecting the European economies, and considering the pitfalls of the overall integration process and its own legitimacy, the Union itself must become not only ’smarter’, more inclusive and more sustainable, but also more resilient, more capable of reacting to different internal and external shocks. Topics 'We welcome both theoretical and empirical papers which could fit the following themes: The relevance of the resilience concept for developing EU and national policies Research themes: Empirical methods for assessing the resilience capacity; Developing new approaches for the resilience capacity analysis; Building resilience for a more reacting Europe; East vs. West – a spatial approach on resilience; the normative role of resilience - enclosing resilience on policy design; How can resilience guide the action of the EU? The resilience of EU actorness Research themes: European Neighbourhood Policy, Eastern Partnership, EU- USA relations, EU – Russia relations, etc. How can the EU kick / bust its sluggish economy? Research themes: How can the EU boost its competitiveness?; Reducing the administrative burden and increase the EU funds effectiveness; Reducing the young population unemployment by easing their transition to the labour market; Reducing the Brexit shock spread effects; Fighting for the free trade (signing the TTIP); Reducing regional development gaps across the EU
EURINT proceedings
CES Working papers (special issue)
EURINT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTRE FOR EUROPEAN STUDIES „ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA”  UNIVERSITY  Iași  ROMANIA
EURINT 2017 European Union at crossroads: building resilience in times of change 19-20 May, 2017 Centre for European Studies, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iaşi, Romania
CONFERENCE RATIONALE & TOPICS
CONFERENCE RATIONALE & TOPICS Today’s European Union (EU) is being confronted with both economic and political challenges. The economic challenges are associated with the post-crisis recovery, while the political challenges stem from the rise of nationalism which has recently hit the EU. Against this background, the Centre for European Studies within Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, is organizing the sixth edition of EURINT, which will focus on the resilience capacity of the EU to react to these challenges. Resilience is a concept which has increasingly been used in the general public discourse, as well as within the EU debates in relation to economic development, but also to the security and defence issues. Moreover, various organizations and agencies, research institutes and experts in various areas are proposing resilience analyses as being the most appropriate alternative to replace other key concepts in designing the European and national policies. This is due to the resilience capacity to accommodate the multitude of factors and conditions that influence long- term growth and development in a systemic approach. After the recent economic crisis, most of the European countries did not manage to get back on the growth path, and they are still facing a sluggish growth. Understanding the factors that foster / undermine economic resilience is the key to a faster recovery.  Besides the economic issues, further challenges have emerged, testing the EU’s cohesion. The refugee crisis forced the EU to deal with huge refugee inflows escaping conflict in their country, which has generated internal concerns over how to deal best with resettling people. Soon after, the Brexit referendum has further challenged the EU’s internal stability and questioned the viability of the European project on the long-term. Therefore, faced with the current economic crisis affecting the European economies, and considering the pitfalls of the overall integration process and its own legitimacy, the Union itself must become not only ’smarter’, more inclusive and more sustainable, but also more resilient, more capable of reacting to different internal and external shocks. Topics 'We welcome both theoretical and empirical papers which could fit the following themes: The relevance of the resilience concept for developing EU and national policies Research themes: Empirical methods for assessing the resilience capacity; Developing new approaches for the resilience capacity analysis; Building resilience for a more reacting Europe; East vs. West – a spatial approach on resilience; the normative role of resilience - enclosing resilience on policy design; How can resilience guide the action of the EU? The resilience of EU actorness Research themes: European Neighbourhood Policy, Eastern Partnership, EU- USA relations, EU – Russia relations, etc. How can the EU kick / bust its sluggish economy? Research themes: How can the EU boost its competitiveness?; Reducing the administrative burden and increase the EU funds effectiveness; Reducing the young population unemployment by easing their transition to the labour market; Reducing the Brexit shock spread effects; Fighting for the free trade (signing the TTIP); Reducing regional development gaps across the EU
CES Working papers (special issue)
EURINT proceedings