National Convention

How to improve the EU enlargement process? How to ensure that the democratising effect of the accession process is sustained beyond the eventual accession to the EU? And are EU institutional reforms a necessary condition for EU enlargement? Answers to these and other questions are offered by the EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy's contribution to the National Convention on the EU's roundtable on Balkans, Turkey or Ukraine: the future of enlargement policy in the context of institutional settings.

Our Associate Research Fellow Tereza Novotná and our Senior Research Fellow Kateřina Davidová wrote recommendations arising from the roundtable discussion of the National Convention on the EU held on 28 April 2023 on the topic "Reactions to the US Inflation Reduction Act".

Our Senior Research Fellow Vít Havelka elaborated recommendations resulting from the roundtable discussion of the National Convention on the EU held on 31 March 2023 on the topic "Energy Market Review". Among the recommendations made for the Czech Republic are, for example, to define its energy concept well in the light of the regional context and European energy policy. Another recommendation is that the Czech Republic should continue to incentivise energy savings as a key part of its preparedness for next winter, in line with the extension of the Regulation on coordinated measures to reduce gas demand.

Our senior research fellow Jana Juzová and associate research fellow Zuzana Kasáková prepared a recommendation resulting from the round table discussion of the National Convention on the EU held on January 20, 2023 on the topic "Formats of regional cooperation from the perspective of the Czech Republic". The Convention produced recommendations based on the answers to the following questions: What position should the Visegrad Group have in Czech foreign policy? How should the Czech Republic approach other formats of regional cooperation in Central Europe? How should the Czech Republic use its involvement in European territorial cooperation?

Our Senior Research Fellow Jana Juzová has prepared a background paper for the National Convention's roundtable on the EU. The roundtable is presented with three main questions: how can the EU and the Czech Republic support Ukraine in its post-war reconstruction and reforms necessary for EU integration? What tools does the EU have at its disposal for deeper economic and political integration of Ukraine? Is the EU ready to fully integrate Ukraine and other candidate countries? Can it use the experience of previous enlargement rounds for this purpose?

The latest National Convention on the EU took place on 29 April 2022. Here is a summary of the main points discussed at the Convention. The recommendations were prepared by Tereza Novotná and Alexandra Visnerová.

Tereza Novotná, Senior Associate Research Fellow, and Alexandra Visnerova, project manager, prepared a background paper on EU-Indo-Pacific relations from the perspective of the Czech Republic. How will the new geopolitical context resulting from the war in Ukraine affect the Indo-Pacific region, including relations with China, and how should the EU respond? Which other partners should the EU work with and which ones should the Czech Republic focus on as a priority during its EU Council Presidency? Which sectors within the European Indo-Pacific Strategy should the EU focus on most and which should the Czech Republic prioritise during its Presidency of the Council?

Our researchers Vít Havelka and Zuzana Kasáková, together with project manager Kristína Chlebáková, prepared a background paper on the territorial aspects of the internal market in the global competition. What are the current trends in international trade affecting the functioning of the EU internal market? What instruments should the European Union use in its trade policy and how to appropriately balance the priority emphasis on free trade with an emphasis on sustainability? What is the future of relations with European partners outside the European Economic Area?

First National Convention of this year will take place on February 16 in Lichtenstein Palace. The topic will be the reformation of the current EU insitutions.

Vladimír Bartovic created summary from the National Convention round-table taking place on May 27 which includes recommendations for the future of multi-speed Europe.