July 5 - July 15 2008
Prague, Czech Republic

July 5 - July 15 2008, Prague, Czech Republic

The European Summer School 2006

Workshop 1: Central European economies two years after accession

The module should introduce in gist the developments of Central European economies that have joined. The emphasis will be put on the structural changes in these countries in terms of competitiveness after entering EU. In the second part of the lecture students should work individually (in groups) on elaboration of competitiveness strategies for Central European countries. Hence they should use both the acquired knowledge as well as provided statistical data.

Workshop 2: Central Europe and EU Foreign Policy: active players or passive observers?

This workshop will focus on examining and discussing the potential of new Central European EU member states to shape the external relations of the enlarged European Union. Firstly, it will try to overview the track record of these countries in Common Foreign and Security Policy so far (CFSP), with particular reference to foreign policy issues on which the new MS made their voices most heard, and analyse why this was the case. Secondly, it will look at the attitudes of the new MS towards further enlargement, and discuss some questions, such as: Why are some countries favoured for EU accession more than others? And why do the favourites differ from country to country? Why is the general support for EU enlargement dropping even in new EU member states? What are the positions of political representation and public opinion? Thirdly, we will try to elaborate on what are the likely ideas on which the new EU MS can push the EU foreign policy, in terms of geographic and issue-based priorities, and examine possible opportunities as well as pitfalls in this respect.

Workshop 3: Central Europe within the European Union: From Regional to Global (In)security?

As a result of the accession of V4 countries to the European Union, their internal security position changed in two directions - V4 countries were integrated into emerging EU security structures and can influence new acquis in the domain of JHA; at the same time, the freedom of action of the V4 countries has been limited by EU legal and political constrains and several internal security problems of "old EU" may be transferred into the territory of new EU members. Lecture/seminar "Central Europe within the European Union: From Regional to Global (In)security?" shall focus on the European response to those new threats and challenges. In particular, the following areas will be covered:

• New EU external policy, in the establishment of the EU Border Management Agency;
• European and V4 response to terrorism;
• Tension between human rights standards and requirements of enhanced security cooperation, in particular the impact of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights;
• EU-related issues of migration and interconnected security problems.

Workshop 4: Internal politics in the V4 countries: impact of the EU-membership

Negotiations with the EU and application of EU-standards strongly influenced the internal political discussion in the countries of the Visegrad Four. In the pre-accession period different political camps were created in the V4 countries representing different opinions about the recent processes in the EU and processes of Europeanization, respectively. In the period of less then two years after the last EU-enlargement in all V4 countries weakening of coalition governments might be observed and also partial success of Euro-sceptic or Euro-realistic political parties and leaders. This matter of fact was shown in the first elections in the European parliament in 2004 (Czech Republic, Poland) and later also in the electoral campaign before the parliamentary and presidential elections in Poland in 2005. In the year 2006, in other V4 countries parliamentary elections will be organised. The EU-theme will play important role in the campaign and probably also in the post-electoral discussions. In the workshop the most important events will be analysed connected with the relation internal politics - EU in V4 countries and the role and impact of EU-themes in (on) the domestic political discussions.

Workshop 5: New Member States and External Assistance Policies of the EU

The workshop will consist of a presentation the development co-operation policy of the EC, its main geographic and thematic programmes and institutional framework. There will be a presentation of the development co-operation policies of the New Member States (with the emphasis on the Czech Republic) before and after the enlargement. There will be a presentation and discussion on the most recent development of the EU external assistance policies and the position of the New Member States in the process of policy formulation. The discussion will focus also on the possible future impact of the EU enlargement on the development policies and its priorities.

Workshop 6: Lobbying in the EU

The aim of the workshop is to focus on the current stage of the lobbying of different stakeholders (business, regions, NGOs) on European level. The issues of transparency of lobbying processes on the EU level are presently seen by stakeholders and European decision-makers as crucial for the further legitimacy and citizens trust in the European Union. The workshop will therefore focuse on following issues:

• the definition of key actors of European lobbying and institutions, which are lobbied;
• the reason and rationale for the importance of European lobbying;
• forms and channels of involving different stakeholders and actors in the European decision-making process;
• working methods of European lobbyists - "the normal lobbying day in Brussels";
• the future trends with regard to European lobbying.