July 5 - July 15 2008
Prague, Czech Republic

July 5 - July 15 2008, Prague, Czech Republic

European Summer School 2007

Workshop 1: Central European economies heading towards Eurozone

The workshop should focus on main positives and risks arising from the process of euro adoption in the Central European region. We should discuss the suitability of Masstricht criteria for assessing the readiness of Central European countries. Beside that the individual position of the candidate countries should be discussed and. we should analyze the public opinion issues as well. Finally the participants are going to work out convergence programs for individual countries in teamwork.

Workshop 2: Central Europe and the EU Foreign Policy: committed Atlanticists, staunch idealists, and always looking East?

The course will discuss the three pressumptions relating to the foreign policy of the Central European states - i.e. that the Central Europeans prefer aliance with United States, rather than acting in opposition to them, that they support democratic transformation and human rights and are reluctant to engage with countries who breach them, and that they would like the EU to develop a consistent and coherent policy towards the Eastern neighbours of the EU. It will look at the positions of political parties in Central European states and how these evolved since the EU accession, as well as at some patterns of the public opinion. It will further discuss some topical issues such as the US plans to build anti-missile base in the Czech Republic and Poland, the Central European initiatives for the European Neighbourhood Policy, the attitudes of their governments to issues such as Iraq or Middle East, independent EU operations, problems relating to CIA rendition flights in Europe and others.

Workshop 3: Central Europe and the EU Internal Security: Integration and Resistance?

The course will discuss recent trends in the emerging Area of Justice, Freedom and Security in the European Union and its perception in the Central European states. While the internal security domain is the most rapidly developing sphere of the EU cooperation today, the Central Europe demonstrates several cases of the resistance of national institutions against the transfer of powers to the EU institutions or the power-sharing among EU states. The lecture will analyse and contextualise these cases (such as debate on European Arrest Warrant, harmonisation of visa policy, harmonisation of criminal law with transborder aspects) and explain their potential implication for the future of the EU integration project. In particular, it will focus on the question whether they are only exceptional examples of national reluctance to participate in the EU integration or whether they demonstrate more fundamental Eurosceptic trends in the Central European countries of today.

Workshop 4: Responding to Security Challenges: Role of Central Europe in the current NATO/ESDP/Transatlantic Debate and EU Counterterrorism Policies

The Central European countries have been experiencing dramatic changes in their security milieu, security concepts and policies since the end of the Cold War. The course will discuss two main topics: the positions of relevant political actors and policies of these countries towards NATO and ESDP developments as well as towards relevant burning security issues discussed within their political debates, namely the US antimissile bases and the broader impact of this debate on the EU. Secondly, Central Europe cannot be considered either a driving force of international and supranational cooperation in the fight against global terrorism or a source of effective national measures to be implemented elsewhere in order to improve the prevention and responsive capacity. The role of Central European countries in the EU counterterrorism efforts will be discussed in the second part of the workshop.

Workshop 5: Visegrad countries: the EU membership from the perspective of domestic politics

Co-operation among the countries of the Visegrad Four has gone through its ups and downs. Currently, political representations show little will and ability to work together and co-ordinate their policies in the EU arena. Nevertheless, a united strategy could bring along success and gains for all parties. However, due to historical legacies, economic discrepancies, and domestic political development, the issue of regional co-operation has been troublesome right from the fall of the Communist regimes. Recent parliamentary elections in all four countries brought to the fore rather nationalist, Euro-sceptic parties, resulting in a growing distrust towards the EU and rather neglecting attitudes towards their Central European neighbours. To what extent does internal political development co-incide with the EU accession? What are the grounds for the lack of enthusiasm with regard to European integration? Will the lack of Visegrad's cohesion mean wasted opportunities for Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic? What is the actual impact of the EU membership on their domestic politics?

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.