Thread by @tepsaeu

The #SpanishPPC continues today 🇪🇸💪

While we wait for the first sessions to start later on this morning, take the time to check out the highlights of discussions from yesterday!

👉 threadreaderapp.com/thread/1664319…

We're joining the second day of the #SpanishPPC at the @SpainMFA building: the first part consists of two more parallel sessions

As always, we will highlight the best bits

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But first, let's recap one of the most crucial discussions from yesterday's panel "The Enlargement and Reform of the European Union", in which @CaminoMortera moderated a discussion between Alice Cunha, Héctor Sánchez, Frank Schimmelfennig, and @andrejas_mkd

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We want to highlight the contributions of this panel because #enlargement is one of the most important themes for the EU in the coming years: candidates knocking at the door across the European continent, and the task to couple Ukraine's accession with post-war reconstruction

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.@iprinova's Alice Cunha highlighted the role of enlargement in institutional reform: "historically, enlargement has been the driver for reform. But for the future, first the Members should decide if and how they want to enlarge, and the discussion about reform will follow."

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.@CidobBarcelona's Héctor Sánchez, on Ukraine's candidacy & concepts of enlargement: "if we see enlargement as a political tool then Ukraine should join immediately. If it is a way to enrich the Union, then reforms to the EU (such as regarding veto power) should come first"

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.@ETH_en's Frank Schimmelfennig praised the candidacy of Ukraine: "the official 'yes' to Ukraine's application for candidat status has a large symbolic value. It was a good decision that should have been made much, much earlier"

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Finally, @InstitutePrespa's @andrejas_mkd noted the importance of accession for candidate countries: "if we are to ensure that liberal democracy wins, Ukraine and many other candidate countries should be in"

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Back to today's sessions 👉 First, let's look at "European Diplomacy 15 Years After the Lisbon Treaty", where @PauLamGon moderates discussion between @HallgrenJakob, @SabinaKLange, Karolina Pomorska & Ignacio Sánchez Amor

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.@UISweden's @HallgrenJakob begins by noting the current realities of the EU's foreign policy decision-making: “The most important foreign policy decisions have been moved to the European Council, because the EU's work in foreign affairs has become stronger.”

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Karolina Pomorska (@UniLeidenNews) discusses another aspect of this EU role in foreign affairs: "The EEAS has overcome teething problems, but it is unclear whether Member States are on board with the idea of the Service. Without support, the EEAS is limited in what it can do"
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Ignacio Sánchez Amor, Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, @Europarl_EN, on who should represent 🇪🇺 in the world: "The competition between the @EU_Commission & European Council Presidents is damaging to our position in the world; I prefer to have a High Representative"
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Finally, @SabinaKLange added: "the EU diplomatic system is about the interplay between national and EU-level diplomats. If we can bring national diplomats closer to the EU level, and EU diplomats closer to the national level, we will be going in the right direction"

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The second Parallel Session taking place this morning is all about the new TEPSA Book "Climate Change and the Future of Europe: Views from the Capitals", the co-editor of which @_PaulSchmidt is moderating a discussion between Lara Lázaro, @MarcoSiddi, and Donald Wertlen

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.@_PaulSchmidt (@oegfe), opened the panel as moderator with his assessment of the #EUGreenDeal: “It is an unanimous, binding element among Member States to stick to climate objectives, but the question remains: where are we in terms of implementation? Time is of the essence”

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The perspective on EU #ClimateAction from Spain was provided by @rielcano's Lara Lázaro: "Due to extreme weather events, temperatures and sea rising, Spain is a climate hotspot, meaning that we are concerned by climate change"

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The panel also included viewpoints from Donald Wertlen on the situation in Slovakia: "although there have been some developments such as the largest petition ever done in history, #ClimateMeToo, they brought it to the Parliament but nothing happened afterwards.”
@ComeniusUni
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Finally, @MarcoSiddi gave a bleak view from Italy: "The country is unprepared to face climate change; this is affecting the (economic north) of the country and has an impact on. There is no long-term planning"
@FIIA_fi @IAIonline
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We are now joining the final Plenary Session of the #SpanishPPC, in which Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation José Manuel Albares gives a Keynote Speech

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The Minister's remarks are wide-ranging and ambitious in scope. For instance, he calls for a "Europe well-prepared for change" and notes that "today is the tim to modernise the European project"

He further affirms that "Unity will be a guiding principle of our Presidency"

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In response to the #TEPSArecommendations, the Minister stated: “ We want a Europe that is well-prepared for the huge changes that lie ahead, starting with a responsible digitalisation and a larger roll-out of renewables, promoting a greater European energy sovereignty."
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To discuss the Minister's remarks, @carmecolomina from @CidobBarcelona brings up several challenges facing the EU: relations with CELAC, further supporting Ukraine's resistance to Russian aggression, and looking into potential reforms to the EU"

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.@rielcano Director @CharlesTPowell's response: "We are not terribly good at speaking the language of power [...] we are not well equipped to deal with an increasingly, and ironically, old-fashioned world. This makes the EU's role as a global actor very difficult"

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TEPSA Board Member and Secretary-General of @oegfe, @_PaulSchmidt: "This is a historical moment. The Spanish Presidency should focus on our strengths, our unity. We do not talk enough about what we actually achieve"

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"On enlargement, the question is how to move forward. The Minister stressed the importance of this enlargement process, and we should ride the wave of this momentum"

- @_PaulSchmidt at the #SpanishPPC

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"On #ClimateChange: we have the #EUGreenDeal, we have binding regulations. Now we need to implement them. We need courage, political will, and time is of the essence"

- @_PaulSchmidt at the #SpanishPPC

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"On the role of think tanks & policy institutes: this is why TEPSA Pre-Presidency Conferences are so important. We have a lot of ideas, a lot of analysis. We just need political actors to listen to them, and take action on them"

- @_PaulSchmidt at the #SpanishPPC

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"On the Spanish Presidency's objectives: helping Ukraine to defeat Russia, maintaining unity without neglecting our diversity, dealing with the most difficulty policy priorities. These are vital, and work is needed"

- @_PaulSchmidt at the #SpanishPPC

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On this note, @_PaulSchmidt thanks @rielcano, @CidobBarcelona & the @SpainMFA for hosting our #SpanishPPC

We'd like to reiterate that thanks and extend it to all the speakers, questioners, and audience members to th #SpanishPPC

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The next Pre-Presidency Conference will take place in #Brussels in November, co-organised with @EgmontInstitute 👉 but stay tuned, we have much more to say about the incoming Spanish Presidency, including a video edition of the #TEPSArecommendations and much more!

/ENDS

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