61st LEIDEN-LONDON meeting 2022
Interdependence, cooperation and strategic autonomy: A (legal) view from the EU
Programme
Saturday 25 June 9:30-17:00
Venue: Law Faculty Building Leiden: Kamerlingh Onnes Gebouw
Swings and developments in the foreign policy of world powers have accelerated the awareness of the need for the EU to clarify and strengthen its geo-political position. In terms of security, but also in many other areas, the EU faces the need to define and promote its own position, even while being committed to common international responses. The phrase that has become current in attempting to capture this new focus is “strategic autonomy”. It forms part of a rhetoric (think of: “Resilient Europe”, “Managed Globalization”, “Geopolitical Europe”, “Europe that protects”) that reflects problems of access to vital resources, concerns over dependence on third countries, and the desire, especially in commercial policy, to defend and disseminate the EU’s own rules and norms.
Strategic autonomy is clearly a political concept but also poses economic and legal questions.
For example: does strategic autonomy necessarily imply an ‘EU-first’ policy? Is European strategic autonomy potentially constrained by familiar features of EU law, such as its system of competences, its openness to international law, and its respect for fundamental rights? What are the distributive, social, moral and normative consequences of this turn to strategic autonomy? How do strategic autonomy aims affect the EU’s relations with its neighbours, including the UK? If strategic autonomy is essentially a political idea, what part is played by democratic institutions and processes – and what is the place in such security-inspired developments for common efforts to combat electoral interference and counter post-truth propaganda, to preserve the autonomy of the EU and domestic institutions?
Programme
9-9:30 Welcome, registration and tea and coffee
Session I - Chair: Michael Dougan
9:30 Opening – Stefaan Van den Bogaert, Director Europa Institute
9:35-10:05 Keynote: Strategic autonomy in the EU’s external relations – Frank Hoffmeister
10:05-10:30 Discussion
10:30-11.00 Tea and coffee
Session II – Chair: Alison McDonnell
Strategic autonomy in specific areas: Part I
11:00-11:40 The Strategic Compass: A legal analysis of the guide to a European Defence Union – Steven Blockmans
11:40-12:20 FDI and strategic autonomy: Changing contours of international investment law – Mavluda Sattorova
12:20-12:45 Discussion
12:45 Award of 2021 Common Market Law Review Prize for Young Academics
12:50- 14:35 Lunch
14:35 Opening afternoon Sessions
Session III - Chair: Christa Tobler
Strategic autonomy in specific areas: Part II
14:40-15:10 REPowerEU - Sharing strategic autonomy in the gas crisis – Leigh Hancher
15:10-15:30 Cyber: Changing perspectives on national security and strategic autonomy – Nico van Eijk
15:30-15:55 Discussion
15:55-16:15 Coffee/ tea
Session IV – Chair Marise Cremona
Overarching political and legal issues
16:15-17:00 Panel discussion – including Marise Cremona, Thomas Ackermann, Jan Wouters
Speakers and Chairs:
Frank Hoffmeister, European External Action Service, Brussels
Steven Blockmans, CEPS and University of Amsterdam
Mavluda Sattorova, University of Liverpool
Leigh Hancher, University of Tilburg
Nico van Eijk, CTIVD (Review Committee on the Intelligence and Security Services), The Hague
Marise Cremona, European University Institute
Thomas Ackermann, University of Munich
Jan Wouters, University of Leuven
Michael Dougan, University of Liverpool
Alison McDonnell, University of Leiden
Christa Tobler, University of Leiden
For practical information please contact Ms Reeda Al Sabri Halawi
Email: r.al.sabri.halawi@law.leidenuniv.nl
Kindly register for the event in the link below:
https://www.formdesk.com/universiteitleiden/Leiden_London_2022_event_25June_2022 .
The Leiden-London event can also be followed online via this link:
https://weblectures.leidenuniv.nl/Mediasite/Play/29eb5a86117e4b9cbe32cd21cb1987ed1d