Thread by @tepsaeu

We're kicking off day two of the @TRACK_EUCO with a panel on "How the European Council Works" with Christian Lequesne from @sciencespo, Secretary-General @CloosJim, as well as Paula Reppmann and @DariusRibbe from @uni_greifswald

Here are some highlights!

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TEPSA Secretary-General @CloosJim kicks the day off with a keynote speech drawing on his years of experience leading the General Secretariat of the @EUCouncil

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Jim has started his intervention by recapping the earliest days of the @EUCouncil, where the heads of state of the European Community decided the policies being passed were too important for them not to have a forum for discussion

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Until 2002, and then even as late as the #LisbonTreaty, the procedures of the @EUCouncil were still very informal: "Lisbon introduces two important reforms: restricting the @EUCouncil to the leaders, and introducing the Council President"

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"All the preparatory documents are done under the auspices of the President of the Council, but they are also done with the heavy cooperation of the @EU_Commission and the Presidency"

- @CloosJim on the constant interaction between the Council and the other Institutions

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"None of the heads of government have a civil servant or collaborator with them in the room at the @EUCouncil: this changes the dynamic dramatically"

- @CloosJim on the dynamics in the room at the European Council

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What happens if one national leader cannot make it to an @EUCouncil meeting? If they are a PM, maybe a President can replace them. "But if #Macron is not available, he may ask #Merkel to speak for France, and France's view may be in conflict with Germany's"

- @CloosJim

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"The @EUCouncil President has an important role. When #Germany and #Greece clashed over the financial crisis, Donald Tusk took both leaders into a room, and they didn't come out until there was a deal"

- @CloosJim on the role of the Chair in the European Council

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After our Secretary-General's intervention, we turn to Paula Reppmann and @DariusRibbe from @uni_greifswald for comment and analysis

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"When you are in Brussels, you need to live with the leaders elected by their countries"

- @CloosJim on the importance of democracy in Europe

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We're moving on to our Q&A from the morning panel at the @TRACK_EUCO conference, where our Secretary-General @CloosJim has given the keynote

If you want to know more about how consensus is formed in Europe, check out this episode of #EuropeChats!

This brings our first panel of the day to a close - be sure to tune back in at 10:15 CET for our next panel: "Spreading the knowledge: A look at the State of the Art"

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Our second panel is starting!

"Spreading the knowledge: A look at the State of the Art" will be moderated by Wolfgang Wessels from @TRACK_EUCO and feature contributions from @birgit_bujard, @TCEuropean, and Astrid Worum

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.@birgit_bujard is currently giving her contribution to the panel on how we can educate the public on the work of the @EUCouncil

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We now turn to @TCEuropean for his take on disseminating the added value of the @EUCouncil within the European Institutional space

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We're now getting into another Institutional perspective from Astrid Worum, who works in the @EP_ThinkTank
of the @Europarl_EN

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After a dynamic and vibrant Q&A, our panel moderator Wolfgang Wessels wraps up the "Spreading the knowledge: A look at the State of the Art" panel for now

We'll be back at 12:00 CET for the final concluding panel, be sure to check in with us!

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Our final panel of the @TRACK_EUCO conference is starting now! If you aren't already with us, be sure to joins us, as you still can, via #Zoom! ➡️ tepsa.eu/track-dissemin…

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In this concluding panel, the Chairperson of the TEPSA Board Lucia Mokrá is moderating the concluding discussion between @C_Neuhold1 from @MaastrichtU/@FasosMaastricht and @TRACK_EUCO Academic Coordinator Wolfgang Wessels

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One of the tricky elements of analysing the @EUCouncil is that its internal proceedings are quite opaque

"What can be said is that the Council works very strongly in crisis management"

- @C_Neuhold1 from @MaastrichtU/@FasosMaastricht

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"Crisis issues are seen as 'chefsache', i.e. issues which must be dealt with at the highest level: the @EUCouncil"

@C_Neuhold1 from @MaastrichtU/@FasosMaastricht

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"The @TRACK_EUCO project is vital to bring academics and practitioners together in order to learn more about how this institution works on the inside"

@C_Neuhold1 from @MaastrichtU/@FasosMaastricht

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"The debate has not ended"

- @C_Neuhold1 from @MaastrichtU/@FasosMaastricht concludes her contribution to the final remarks of the @TRACK_EUCO dissemination conference

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The @TRACK_EUCO Academic Coordinator Wolfgang Wessels will now give his final thoughts on the conference: "On the question of accountability and legitimacy: we need to look into how far European citizens are in the loop"

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"Over this conference, we have collected a lot of insight and evidence for how the @EUCouncil works in times of crisis - but what are our research questions?"

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"For me the @EUCouncil is the driving force for the transformation of Europe and its role in the world in the last fifty years, which is not to say it was all successful"

- Wolfgang Wessels, @TRACK_EUCO Academic Coordinator

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On this note, @TRACK_EUCO Academic Coordinator concludes his final remarks to this conference on spreading knowledge about the @EUCouncil, and the event itself also concludes

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Thank you to all our participants over the last two days, and be sure to stay tuned for more about the EU Institutions, including the @EUCouncil

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