ISAC Fund is pleased to announce its upcoming international conference that will take place on July 14, 2016 under the title “The European Union’s Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy and the Western Balkans”.
As part of ISAC’s multiyear program “CFSP and Serbia’s Accession to the EU”, which entails outreach activities and monitoring of Chapter 31 (Common Foreign, Security and Defense Policy), this is a second conference on CFSP. It is aimed at informing both decision makers and the media on what are the EU’s CFSP and Serbia’s current and future role within that framework.
With the opening of the EU accession negotiations in 2013, Serbia is at the beginning of the final phase of the European integration process leading to full EU membership. Some of the chapters, such as 23, 24 and 35 are perceived as crucial for the success of the negotiations. However, as we have seen in the last two years, Chapter 31 which is usually perceived as technical and easy to close, is becoming an unwanted obstacle in the case of Serbia, due to its specific legacy and thus there is an urgent need for unbiased information and debate regarding this topic.
The first CFSP conference, which marked the start of ISAC’s new program, was organised in May 2015, and with high level participants, was a great success, widely covered in the media and with a high impact in the public. This time, the particular focus will be set on the new Global Strategy of the EU (which will be issued by the end of June 2016) and the impact of its content on the positions and actions of the Western Balkans states. The discussions will be aimed at broad questions like which geographical areas will be the priority, how will the EU achieve balance between values and interests, but also region-specific ones, such as where do candidate countries fit in, what role they can have in conducting the strategy, how candidate countries themselves see harmonization with CFSP, etc. We are proud to say that this will be one of the first events to deal with the new Strategy in Europe after its publication.
An additional importance of this conference is that it will be the first high-level event in the post-election period in Serbia which aims to provide a platform for exchange of ideas and positions to be presented in front of the newly formed Government.
Conference “The European Union’s Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy and the Western Balkans”
As part of its multi-year program “CFSP and Serbia’s Accession to the EU”, ISAC is organizing on July 14, 2016 a second conference on CFSP with a goal to raise awareness about the EU’s Common and Foreign Security Policy and examine Serbia’s current and future role within that framework. This time, the particular focus will be set on the new Global Strategy of the EU, which was issued at the end of June 2016, and the impact of its content on the positions and actions of the Western Balkans states. This event will be also focused on dissemination of information about the different aspects the Strategy: EU and its neighborhood, cooperative approach of the EU towards global challenges, definition of interests embedded in values, and exploring the aim of making the existing foreign policy toolbox more coherent and effective.
ISAC is pleased to announce that Dr. Nathalie Tocci, Special Adviser on the EU Foreign and Security Policy Strategy to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and Mr. David McAllister, Member of the European Parliament and the Rapporteur on Serbia will both give keynote speeches.