Practical information
Ifri/CFA breakfast organised with the Vienna Institute for Internation Economic Studies (wiww) in the Framework of the Rencontres de Schwarzenbergerplatz.
Context et objectives
Over the past year, the topic of connectivity has picked up steam in the European Union. Just a couple of days ago, the European Commission launched its Global Gateway, the new European Strategy to boost “smart, clean and secure links in digital, energy and transport and strengthen health, education and research systems across the world”. The initiative, aimed to mobilise up to €300 billion in investments between 2021 and 2027, is new in two ways: it is an attempt to internalise the logic of strategic competition with the China, which has gained ground in the past years; and it is an attempt to increase EU visibility through better branding, given the scope of the EU’s existing engagements worldwide. But will this renewed strategy be fit for the challenges the EU ambitions to meet? How will it interact with China’s Belt and Road initiative in Europe and beyond?
The wiiw in collaboration with the Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe (CFA/ÖFZ) and the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) would like to invite you to discuss these issues and many others. The event will take place in the framework of the Rencontres de Schwarzenbergplatz and at the occasion of the inauguration of the night train Vienna-Paris.
Programme
9h00 Opening
Hans Dietmar Schweisgut, Secretary General of the Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe and former Head of the European Union Delegation to China
9h10 Panel Discussion
Romana Vlahutin, Ambassador at Large for Connectivity, European External Action Service
Mario Holzner, Executive Director of the Vienna Institute for international Economic Studies
Plamen Tonchev, MERICS European China Policy Fellow and Head of Asia Unit at the Institute of International Economic Relations, Athens
Moderation: Hans Dietmar Schweisgut, Secretary General of the Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe and former Head of the European Union Delegation to China
10h30 end of the event
Working language: English
Inscriptions : https://form.jotform.com/213392510274349
Other events
The Future of Space Cooperation: Challenges and Opportunities in the Trump II Era
The policy orientations of the Trump II administration profoundly challenge the foundations of international cooperation in space science and exploration. This shift reflects a broader trend of strategic disengagement and weakening of multilateral mechanisms in the space domain.
Strategic Autonomy and Asia amid Rising Geoeconomic Competition
Amid growing strategic and geopolitical uncertainty, Europe is grappling with the notion of its strategic autonomy. For Europe’s partners in Asia, the concept is also becoming increasingly salient as the world enters an era of structural transformation.
France-Germany, The Engine Under Pressure
Faced with a profoundly disrupted strategic and economic environment, Franco-German cooperation is more than ever the central pillar of Europe's future. The war in Ukraine, energy and technological dependence, and uncertainty about the strength of the transatlantic ties require urgent deepening of European sovereignty, both in terms of defence and economic and industrial competitiveness.