EUROFORUM 2012, Session 1: “Transition from Liberal Democracy in Hungary?”
Time: 22 June 2012, 13.45-15.00
Place: Hotel Bloom Brussels
Registration: by e-mail to eurosphere@uib.no
Since 2010 Hungary has a new government which enjoys super-majority in the Parliament. The government used this unusual legitimacy to push through restrictive laws on the media, judiciary, to restrict the powers of Constitutional Court and checks and balances, just as to fill almost all independent positions with people coming from the governing party. Although the regime is still considered democracy, civil liberties degraded substantially according to the most recent Freedom House report. To what extent does the Hungarian case contribute to the revival of democratic values in Europe? To what extent are these issues taken up as part of the European public sphere?
Moderator: Giuseppe Sciortino, EUROSPHERE, University of Trento
Speakers & Discussants:
Andras Bozoki, EUROSPHERE Steering Committee Member, Central European University
Istvan Hegedus, President of the Hungarian Europe Society
Magdalena Marsovszky, Visiting Lecturer at Fulda University
EUROFORUM 2012, Session 2: “What do citizens want? And what do civil society organizations and the EU do?”
Time: 22 June 2012, 16.45-18.30
Place: Hotel Bloom Brussels
Registration: by e-mail to eurosphere@uib.no
EUROSPHERE invites to its EUROFORUM 2012, which aims to bring together policymakers, political parties, civil society organizations, think tanks, and other stakeholders in order to discuss the results of the European Union’s attempts to structure a European public sphere and a European civil society. The discussions are planned as a roundtable with the participation of representatives of the European Parliament (relevant committees), the European Commission (relevant DGs), European party federations, European networks of non-state organizations, and Eurosphere researchers. The point of departure for the discussion will be EUROSPHERE’s findings concerning the discrepancies / alignments between top-down policies and the ongoing society-initiated processes of European integration. The audience will have ample opportunities to take part in the discussion.
Moderator: Karin Wahl-Jorgensen, EUROSPHERE, Cardiff University
Speakers & Discussants:
Sophie Beernaerts, Head of Unit in Charge of Citizens’ Policy, DG Communication
Bojan Brezigar, Editor in Chief and Board member, European Association of Daily Newspapers in Minority and Regional Languages (MIDAS)
Isabelle Durant, Vice President, the European Parliament
Cécile Gréboval, Secretary General, European Women’s Lobby (EWL)
Piotr Maciej Kaczynski, CEPS, Coordinator, European Policy Institutes Network (EPIN)
Acar Kutay, Researcher, EUROSPHERE, U. Bergen
Marybel Perez, Researcher, EUROSPHERE, U. Bergen
Shannon Pfohman, Deputy Director, European Network against Racism (ENAR)
Robert Sata, Researcher, EUROSPHERE, Central European U.
Floris Vermeulen, Partner, EUROSPHERE, U. Amsterdam
