EnlargEU: Reflecting on the Past, Envisioning the Future

2023 and 2024 mark the 50th and 20th anniversaries of the first enlargement of the European Communities and the star of the Enlargement of the EU eastwards, respectively. Further enlargements took place between these two dates, which, while extending the geographical area of the EEC/EU and thus the territory of the Single Market, also required institutional and political changes in the process of European integration. This has created a clear momentum for political deepening, although not always in a way that best reflects the need to respond to the new issues raised by the increased number and diversity of the Member States.

Between December 2023 and May 2024, the EnlargEU Webinars: reflecting on the past, envisioning the future aim to create a space for comprehensive reflection on the process of the various enlargements we have witnessed over the last 50 years and their impact on the process of European integration, culminating in a debate on the future of European Union enlargement.

The second webinar in this series aims to reflect on the implications of the so-called southern enlargement of the EEC/EU, particularly in terms of the expansion of its geographical space and, consequently, the political, economic and social transformations of the European integration process. Particular attention is paid to the role of integration in a geopolitical space that shares a historical legacy of dictatorial regimes in the post-World War II period, as well as to the possible effects that the heterogeneity of territorial and social development has had on European policies. Pedro Emanuel Mendes, a researcher at the Portuguese Institute of International Relations at the NOVA University of Lisbon (IPRI-NOVA), Miguel Viegas, a lecturer at the Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism at the University of Aveiro (DEGEIT/UA), and Carla Valadas, a lecturer at the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria (IPL) and a researcher at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Coimbra (CEIS20), contributed to this reflection.

This webinar will take place on 15 February 2024 at 17:00 (GMT). Admission is free and no prior registration is required.

Click here to access the session, or use the ID 984 0673 3165 and password 325473.

Organisation

Dina Sebastião (CEIS20-FLUC | UC)

Vanda Amaro Dias (CES-FLUC | UC)