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 Centre

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, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin

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 Centre

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