EUROPE 2020

On 17 May the Centre for European Studies (CES) and the National Educational Association of Finland (KANSIO) held an outdoor event entitled ‘Europe 2020’ in Narinkka Square, Helsinki. The event sought to create meaningful discussion between Finnish citizens and policy-makers on the EU’s upcoming strategy for the next 10 years.

The speakers were prominent members of the Finnish policy realm, including Minister of Finance Jyrki Katainen, Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, European author and correspondent Erkki Toivanen, and Professor of International Politics Tuomas Forsberg, from the University of Tampere.

The open outdoor seminar introduced a number of panel discussions aimed at mobilising citizens directly. These discussions had as their central theme ‘What kind of Europe do we want?’ in light of the upcoming European Parliament elections. The event included panel discussions, lectures, interviews and musical performances. The so-called ‘EuroEar’ survey was a prominent attraction at the CES/Toivo think tank kiosk, where public laptops were provided for citizens to complete an online questionnaire pertaining to the theme of the evening – upon completing the questionnaires, participants were rewarded with a cup of coffee at the ‘Eurocafé’. The ‘EuroEar’ attracted many local celebrities, which in turn attracted a curious crowd to the kiosk. CES material was available there and was effectively distributed to the public.

EU BALTIC SEA STRATEGY AND RUSSIA: COMMITMENT OR CONFRONTATION

The Centre for European Studies and the National Educational Association of Finland (KANSIO) held an event entitled ‘EU Baltic Sea Strategy and Russia: Commitment or Confrontation?’ on the 28 and 29 September in Helsinki and Tallinn, respectively. The event was organised to attract a high-level panel discussion on the current strategy of the Baltics with Russia.

Political speakers at the seminar included Finnish Minister of Finance Jyrki Katainen, Finnish MEP Ville Itälä, Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, the Lord Mayor of Helsinki Eeva-Riitta Siitonen, former English MEP Christopher Beazley from the Baltic-Europe Intergroup of the European Parliament, former Swedish MEP Christian Holm and former Estonian Prime Minister Mart Laar. Notable participating academics and experts included Vadim Kononenko from the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Kari Liuhto of the Pan-European Institute, Ekso Antola of the Centrum Balticum, Anders Lindholm from the European Commission, Major from the National Defence University, Kadri Liik of the International Centre for Defence Studies, Kimmo Sinivuori of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and expert Jyri Raitasalo.

The seminar was intended to attract experts on Baltic Sea issues and macro-regionalisation in Europe. The event was attended by journalists, news commentators, experts in defence, foreign and environmental policies from various ministries and development agencies, and members of the European Parliament.