Eurosfat forum

EUROSFAT is the annual forum of European debates taking place in Romania since 2013. The aim of the event is to bring together politicians, diplomats, activists, business representatives, researchers, experts and citizens in order to debate on key issues on the European agenda, facilitating thus the positioning of Romanian actors within the EU.

The first three editions of EUROSFAT were held at the Parliament Palace in Bucharest and it gathered European officials (among others, Guy Verhofstadt, Dacian Cioloş, Corina Cretu) and over 700 participants in each edition. The forum was dedicated in 2014 to the European elections and it included debates between the main Romanian candidates for the European Parliament.

EUROSFAT WEBSITE

Previous editions

2016

Organised by Europuls, the 4th edition of the largest annual forum of European debates in Romania, Eurosfat Forum 2016, was held on the 6th of May at JW Marriott Bucharest.

The event brought together politicians, representatives of central and local authorities, businesses, academic researchers, experts and citizens to discuss key topics on the agenda of European policies and shape the Romanian positions on these topics. At Eurosfat 2016 eight diverse topics were discussed such as the energy union, EU policies on the crisis of refugees and migrants, open government policy, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and cultural projects like the projection of the “To Kyma” documentary on the European refugee crisis and the play “In search of Europe.”

The purpose of the Forum is to contribute directly through key themes to create an integrated European agenda by highlighting issues of national interest.

Under the patronage of the Dutch Presidency of the Council, the European Parliament and the Representation of the European Commission in Romania, the event attracted a large and enthusiastic audience of 700 participants and gathered support from a number of embassies and civil society organisations such as Fundația pentru Dezvoltarea Societății Civile, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and the Aspen Institute.

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2015

The third edition of the EUROSFAT Forum was held on Friday, 29th of May 2015 at the Palace of Parliament in Bucharest. The event included an opening plenary session and two parallel series of debates followed by an exhibition.

The central theme of EUROSFAT 2015 was focused on EU’s external relations and Romania’s role in the new geopolitical context, regionally and globally. Therefore, some of the debates and conferences of the forum focused on topics such as EU’s security strategy, EU’s neighbourhood policy, the prospects for expansion and the relations with Russia. In addition, discussions were held on other strategic issues for Romania and the European Union such as the energy security policy, the state of democracy and the rule of law in Romania and the integration policies for Roma people. The forum, held under the patronage of the European Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, was organised by Europuls in partnership with the Romanian Centre for European Policies and other civil society organizations and public institutions in Romania and the EU. Among the guests were European officials, members of the European Parliament and the Romanian Parliament, experts from Romania and other Member States, representatives of civil society, businesses and interested citizens.

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2014

On the 7th of April 2014, over 600 people gathered at the Parliament Palace in Bucharest to debate on the state of the European Union and Romania’s place in Europe. Now in its second edition, Eurosfat 2014 has consolidated its position as the most important forum for European debates organised in Romania. The main theme of Eurosfat 2014 was “Where is Europe heading to?”, a question to which 14 candidates to the European Parliament’s elections, leaders of the main European political families, ministers, Romanian and European politicians, officials, representatives of NGOs, think –tanks and citizens tried to answer to.

Thus, in the halls of the Palace of Parliament were discussed topics such as the rule of law in Romania, the accession to Schengen, Romania’s withdrawal from the EU’s economic periphery, regionalization and the structural funds, the consequences of CAP reform and workers’ mobility in the EU. In the two plenary sessions were discussed the institutional prospects after the European Parliament’s elections and the visions of the major political families for the future of the European Union.

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2013

The first edition of EUROSFAT took place on March 15, 2013 at the Parliament Palace in Bucharest. Under the Eurosfat umbrella and in the framework of ten debates, over 600 participants discussed about topics of interest to Romania and the European Union. Romanian politicians and European officials, citizens, representatives of NGOs and think-tanks debated on the perspectives of small and medium-sized enterprises in the context of the Common Agricultural Policy, on the third legislative package on energy, on Romania’s accession to the euro area, on reflecting EU news in the Romanian press, on European citizenship, on management of structural funds, on the Romanian health system and on data protection and security.

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