Democracy and the Public Sphere
XXIIIrd Walter Hallstein Symposium
Signs of democratic decay can currently be observed in various member states. The Walter Hallstein Colloquium 2024 is dedicated to European democracy and the public sphere in light of this year’s elections to the European Parliament. The topic is multi-layered and not limited to jurisprudence. The colloquium will therefore take an interdisciplinary approach with speakers from various member states and different professions. Firstly, a representative of the European Parliament will give an overview of the symposium topic from the perspective of European politics. The scientific part will then begin with a sociological lecture on the various models of society in the early days of European integration. This will be followed by presentations on the Council’s concept of democracy, the sustainability of European democracy and the rule of law, the tension between the preservation of European constitutional values and the legal traditions of the Member States, “democratic backsliding” in Poland and Hungary and the role of European citizenship in times of multiple crises.
Registration until March 18, 2024. by e-mail: psaila@jur.uni-frankfurt.de
Program
Thursday, March 21
14.15
Welcome
Stefan Kadelbach, Wilhelm Merton Center
14.30
Keynote
Sven Simon, Member of the European Parliament (Philipps-University Marburg)
15.00
Discussion
15.20
Coffee break
16.10
What could have been meant by a European “Community”, and what are the consequences for a European political normative order?
Niall Bond, University Lyon Lumière II
16.35
Discussion
16.55
Government as Key Concept to Understanding EU Democracy
Giacomo Rugge, Council of the European Union
17.20
Discussion
17.40
Sustainability of Democracy and the Rule of Law in Europe: Challenges and Guarantees
Lina Papadopoulou, University of Thessaloniki
17.55
Discussion
Friday, March 22
09.15
European Rule of Law Standards in Lithuania
Skirgailė Žalimienė, President of the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania University of Vilnius
09.40
Discussion
10:00
Coffee break
10.15
Central European Identity Claims, Democratic Backsliding and the EU
Kriszta Kovács, Berlin Science Center
10.40
Discussion
11.00
Developments in Poland and their Consequences for the European Union
Irena Lipowicz, Wyszinski-University of Warsaw
11.25
Discussion
11.45
European Citizenship in Times of Crisis – Effects on the Implantation of Social Rights
Emilio Castorina, Universitá degli Studi Catania
12.15
Discussion
12.45
Concluding Remarks
Rainer Hofmann, Wilhelm Merton Center
13.00
End of Symposium
Presented by:
Wilhelm Merton-Centre for European Integration and International Economic Order in cooperation with the Research Centre Normative Orders of Goethe University and Nomos