After the successful first conference in 2008, the Second ‘European Union in International Affairs’ takes place this week in Brussels. More than 150 researchers and policymakers from approximately 30 different countries will come together to discuss and exchange ideas in understanding the interface of EU and international politics and law. Keynote speeches will be given by European Commission President José Manuel Barosso, European Commissioner Karel de Gucht and the Director of Cabinet for the Belgian Secretary of State for European Affairs, Ambassador François Roux.

From the 22nd to the 24th of April 2010, the Institute for European Studies (IES) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels (VUB), the IEE at the ULB, the UNU-CRIS, and the Egmont Institute welcome participation in ‘The European Union in International Affairs II’. The conference is the second in the series, following on from the successful 2008 conference (http://www.ies.be/conference2008/), and is now organized in cooperation with the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts who are hosting the event on their premises (rue Ducale/Hertogsstraat 1, 1000 Brussels).

The Conference will foster exchange between scientific and the policy communities, especially through keynote addresses and three policy-link panels featuring academics as well as policy makers. These Policy Link Panels will cover issues including the role of the EU as a Security Actor, Global Environmental Change and Human Security, and the Governance of Global Financial Markets. For full details, please see the conference programme, available online from the conference website. http://www.ies.be/conference2010/programme/. Keynote speeches are to be given by President of the European Commission José Manuel Barosso (22 April at 9.45am), the Director of Cabinet for the Belgian Secretary of State for European Affairs, Ambassador François Roux (23 April at 7.30pm) and European Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht (24 April at 12.30pm).

The Conference is partly supported by GARNET, a Network of Excellence focusing on Global Governance, Regionalisation and Regulation: the Role of the EU. Additional financial support comes from the FWO and the FNRS. The organizers of the Conference are: the Institute for European Studies (IES) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels (VUB), the Institut d’Études Européennes (IEE) at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), the UN University programme for Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS), and Egmont - Royal Institute for International Relations.

For more information please contact: 

Jamal Shahin: 0474-72 35 66 or +44-7851235307

jshahin@vub.ac.be 

Persdienst Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Karolien Merchiers: 02-629 21 37 of 0473-96 41 37