Thread by @tepsaeu

The #SpanishPPC is starting 👉 as always, we'll be highlighting the main discussion points and takeaways from our diverse array of expert speakers

So stay tuned! And while you're following the PPC, head over to @rielcano for all the latest from our co-organisers 🇪🇸

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The #SpanishPPC is the latest in TEPSA's longstanding tradition of joining with one of its Member Institutes to preview the incoming rotating Presidencies of the Council of the European Union

Today, we are teaming up with @rielcano to preview the Spanish Presidency #EU2023ES

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The welcoming words from @rielcano Chairman José Juan Ruiz, who opens our conference with his warm opening statement on how this conference aims to build a better Europe for the future

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https://twitter.com/rielcano/status/1664250624978952192

Next is TEPSA's Chairperson Lucia Mokrá (@ComeniusUni), who thanks our partners for their close cooperation in organising the #SpanishPPC, as well as to the @SpainMFA, where we are hosted for the coming days

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"Spain is a valued longstanding member of the EU, but we live in unpredictable times: the rules based order is under threat, and expert voices are needed now more than ever for Europe to move forward in a unified way"

- Lucia Mokrá, Chairperson of the TEPSA Board

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Carme Colombia next speaks on behalf of @CidobBarcelona, our Associate Member Institute from Spain, whose support in the #SpanishPPC shows the added value of TEPSA as the oldest trans-European network of leading research institutes specialising in EU affairs

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.@JuanECRepMadrid, Head of Communication for the @EU_Commission's Officer in Spain, on the crucial role of the incoming Spanish Presidency: "it has a fundamental role in closing many important files before the next legislative session"

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"The Presidency is a wonderful opportunity to communicate here in Spain the added value of the European Union for citizens"

- @JuanECRepMadrid, @EU_Commission Office in Spain

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María Lledó, Secretary-General for the European Union (@SpainMFA), on the importance of the types of discussion we aim to have at the #SpanishPPC: "in previewing the incoming Presidency with diverse voices, the TEPSA Network is really the ideal place to gather these voices"

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"The Spanish Presidency will place citizens at the centre of its policies, and we are ready to face the challenge: we assume the Presidency with confidence and determination, and with the aim of supporting the European project"

- María Lledó (@SpainMFA)

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After these opening words, we move towards our first Plenary Session at the #SpanishPPC: "The Spanish EU Presidency: challenges and priorities in the aftermath of the pandemic and Russia’s aggression on Ukraine"

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To discuss the complex scenario which #EU2023ES will face as regards Europe's enduring crisis response: rebuilding after COVID, and supporting Ukraine's resistance to Russia's aggression, we have Pau Marí Klose (@Congreso_Es), @YoungsRichard (@Carnegie_Europe) & @alexstubb

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"We are facing a huge test that began a decade ago with the recession, which led to significant changes in EU policies, COVID, which had a similarly revolutionary shift in policy, and of course Russia's war of aggression"

- Pau Marí Klose (@Congreso_Es)

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"The current geopolitical awakening was accelerated by the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. The resistance, courage, and determination of Ukrainians to fight for territorial integrity and a brighter future, pushes us to be better"

- Pau Marí Klose (@Congreso_Es)

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"The idea to have #StrategicAutonomy, research into hybrid threats, concerns about civil security... These have been here a long time. Our awareness of threat was there, but the war in Ukraine brings all this to a new scenario"

- Pau Marí Klose (@Congreso_Es)

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"The war in Ukraine pushed us to put our awareness of threat into a concrete action. The primary responsibility of Spain in this semester is to maintain the spirit of unity, bringing this spirit also to other issues"

- Pau Marí Klose (@Congreso_Es)

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We now turn to @YoungsRichard for his perspective on the priorities of the Spanish Presidency in the context of the war in Ukraine: "unfortunately this crisis is likely to become more challenging during this Presidency, which will be defined by this war"

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"The challenge the Presidency will face will be to manage the short term immediate crises without forgetting there are broader structures which should not be forgottn"

- @YoungsRichard, @Carnegie_Europe & TEPSA Board Member

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"The immediate imperatives of the war are a priority, but these larger questions should be kept in mind. This war requires a more than sporadic adaptations in the European project, there are larger changes to be done"

- @YoungsRichard, @Carnegie_Europe & TEPSA Board Member

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"We are entering an era of multi-level European cooperation. This crisis is forging new areas of European coordination, but this coordination is not taking place within a single model of institutional functioning"

- @YoungsRichard, @Carnegie_Europe & TEPSA Board Member

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"The Presidency needs to be about a lot more than a 'standard' model of governance. Perhaps it can seek to bridge short-term imperatives with longer-term structural changes"

- @YoungsRichard, @Carnegie_Europe & TEPSA Board Member

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"There is a strong feeling in Spain that Latin America is a natural partner of the European Union" - Pau Marí Klose (@Congreso_Es)

This is the theme of one of our #TEPSArecommendations to the incoming Spanish Presidency: read it in full on our website! 👉 tepsa.eu/recommendation…

"We need to build relationships with allies, to reach out. This is because if we do not do it, other countries will do it. China, for instance, is playing a big role in Latin America. The EU cannot afford to become isolated in the world"

- Pau Marí Klose (@Congreso_Es)

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We turn now to @alexstubb, former Finnish Prime Minister and Director of @STGEUI for his thoughts on the challenges faced by the Spanish Presidency

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"It's not the Presidency that makes the agenda, it's the agenda that makes the Presidency [...] events often overtake the best laid aims of Presidencies"

- @alexstubb, @STGEUI

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"This is the 1919, 1945, or 1989 moment of our generation: with each moment, lessons were learned from the failures of the past. Now, we are no longer at "the end of history", and we have a chance to start building a new world"

- @alexstubb, @STGEUI

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"The Spanish Presidency should drive a dignified foreign policy, because it is the Global South which will decide whether the world will follow the West, or the lead of China, Russia, Iran, and their allies"

- @alexstubb, @STGEUI

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"The EU has never been more unified than at this moment, during the war in Ukraine, but this may not last. The Spanish Presidency needs to work to contain that fracturing by mediating, finding compromises, and using Spain's skills in diplomacy"

- @alexstubb, @STGEUI

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"The Spanish Presidency needs to fight for the basic economic values of the EU. The pillars supporting Europe's economic progress and the benefits it brings are under attack, and this needs to be fought against"

- @alexstubb, @STGEUI

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"Because of the war in Ukraine, there is a danger that we move too far towards a form of transactional engagement in the world. This is a movement that should try to be avoided"

- @YoungsRichard, @Carnegie_Europe & TEPSA Board Member

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"If Europe does not engage globally, we will see other powers build coalitions which do not favour our position in the world. We need to create a milieu where we work more efficiently with global partners"

- Pau Marí Klose (@Congreso_Es) on the EU's place in the world

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Following interventions from Pau Marí Klose, @YoungsRichard and @alexstubb we turn to the audience here in Madrid for their questions on the challenges and priorities of the incoming Presidency in the aftermath of the pandemic and Russia’s aggression on Ukraine

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The key question is how, in one word, to define what "success" might mean for the Spanish Presidency?

➡️ @YoungsRichard: "Survival"

➡️Pau Marí Klose: "Unity"

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On this note our moderator @RaquelGarciaLl2 closes the discussion for now

We'll be back for parallel sessions after a short break, so stay tuned! And while we wait for the start of the next panels, be sure to head over to @rielcano for live conference photography📸

The #SpanishPPC is breaking out into its first round of Parallel Sessions 💪

The first is relating to the @RECLAIM_HEU project and features contributions from @maxconrad (@AMS_IIA), Luis Bouza (@UAM_Madrid), and @NicolePirozzi (@IAIonline), under moderation by @HaapalaTaru

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For the perspective from @RECLAIM_HEU check out their live coverage of the event! And give them a follow while you're there

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https://twitter.com/RECLAIM_HEU/status/1664290898392260608

The discussion was dynamic and wide-ranging in the @RECLAIM_HEU session 👉@maxconrad opened with “We see a close link between post-truth politics and populism. It is about much, much more than dispelling disinformation”

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.@NicolePirozzi (@IAIonline) followed-up with the main issue RECLAIM sees with the increased influence of post-truth politics: “Opinions and beliefs are more important than scientific facts. During COVID-19, for instance, fake news spread faster than the virus itself”

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Luis Bouza (@UAM_Madrid) concluded with a optimistic outlook on the current #AI debate: “Disinformation follows quite distinctive linguistic forms; is there a future out there where #AI can play an important role in fighting post-truth politics?”

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We simultaneously discussed "The role of the presidency of the European Union Council 15 years after the Lisbon Treaty" in our second Parallel Session with Ana Mar Fernández Pasarín, André Gillissen and Jakob Lewander discussing with moderation by @J_Greubel

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The discussion here reflected our panellists' thoughts on the last 15 years of EU governance, with Jakob Lewander (SIEPS) observing: “The Lisbon Treaty did away with ‘high politics’, so the Presidency now should fill the role of honest broker in negotiations”

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André Gillissen, Policy Coordinator at General and Institutional Policy, General Secretariat of the @EUCouncil, continued: “Lisbon made the amount of legislation concluded during a Presidency a direct measure of its success, thus Presidencies now try to achieve ‘landmarks’”

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Finally, Ana Mar Fernández Pasarín (Autonomous University of Barcelona) noted: “The complex division of work involves new challenges such as less visibility, which creates issues of clear leadership identification - above all for third countries”

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Follow along for more here ⤵️

https://twitter.com/tepsaeu/status/1664319807091621895

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