Latvian parliament to host high-level conference "60 Years of the European Project" next week

RIGA - The Latvian parliament on April 3 will host a high-level international conference "60 Years of the European Project" to look back at the history of the European project and to discuss its future, the parliament's press service said.

The event is organized by the Latvian parliament's European Affairs Committee in cooperation with the Latvian Institute of International Affairs and the European Commission Representation in Latvia.

The opening remarks will be delivered by Latvian parliament speaker Inara Murniece; the head of the Latvian Institute of International Affairs, Andris Spruds; and the head of the European Commission Representation in Latvia, Inna Steinbuka.

The first panel of the conference will discuss the prospects of the European Project, and the speakers will include Lolita Cigane, the Chairwoman of the European Affairs Committee of the Latvian parliament of Latvia; Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen, Director, DG Communication, European Commission; Wolfgang Wessels, Professor, Centre for Turkey and European Union Studies, University of Cologne, and others.

The second panel discussion will focus on rebooting the EU’s economy, and Rolf Strauch, Member of the Management Board, Chief Economist, European Stability Mechanism; Niels Thygesen, Chair, European Fiscal Board; and Martins Kazaks, Chief Economist, Swedbank Latvia, will be among the speakers.

The third panel is called "ERASMUS+ roundtable: Youth as Agent of Europeanization", and one of the speakers from Latvia will be Kaspars Abelnica, President of Erasmus Student Network in Latvia.

The fourth panel will have three sub-panels discussing the EU neighborhood and possibility of any further enlargement, path to a European Defense Union and internal and external security prospects, and the security dimension of the energy union respectively.

The fifth panel will focus on the EU-US relations and the future global role of the block. The prominent speakers will include Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister of Sweden; Andris Piebalgs, former European Commissioner for Development at the European Commission; and Nathalie Tocci, Deputy Director, Istituto Affari Internazionali, and Special Adviser to EU HRVP Federica Mogherini.