The Diplomat
The Elcano Royal Institute will participate this year in the organization of the conference that, for almost 50 years, has been held by the Trans-European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA) before each European Presidency, in this case the Spanish one. The event will be attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, and the Secretary of State for the EU, Pascual Navarro.
The meeting will be an opportunity to discuss the objectives and priorities of the incoming Spanish Presidency, which will take place on June 1 and 2. José Manuel Albares and Pascual Navarro will be the main speakers at the conference, which will be attended by MEPs, parliamentarians and representatives of civil society, together with analysts from the continent’s most important think tanks and research centers on EU affairs.
TEPSA is a network of 47 research institutes from 37 European countries, now half a century old. Before each Council Presidency, TEPSA joins forces with a partner institute from the country concerned to organize the Pre-Presidency Conference (PPC). Since the first conference, held for the Irish Presidency from January to June 1975, PPCs have become a staple of the European political year. The Elcano Royal Institute also participated in the conference prior to the previous Spanish Presidency in the first half of 2010.
Discussions in Madrid will focus on the key political issues of the moment, such as enlargement, building a competitive economy for Europe and the impact of post-truth politics in the EU, among others. The conference is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as by TEPSA’s CERV operating grant. In the context of a panel discussion, it has received funding from the Horizon project “Reclaiming Liberal Democracy in the Postfactual Age”. Prior to the conference, TEPSA will also present its recommendations for the Spanish Presidency, which have been prepared by TEPSA researchers.
According to TEPSA’s Secretary General, Jim Cloos, these Pre-Presidency Conferences are “a perfect opportunity to bring together representatives of the TEPSA network and policy makers” to engage in “a vibrant debate on Europe in the run-up to each Presidency”. Ignacio Molina, senior researcher at the Real Instituto Elcano, underlines that “Elcano is pleased to join forces with TEPSA this year in Madrid to organize the Spanish Pre-Presidency Conference”.
