Europe Day commemorates 9 May 1950, when the then French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman presented his proposal on the creation of an organized Europe to help maintain peaceful relations between European countries. This proposal, known as the ‘Schuman declaration’, is considered to be the act that created what is now the European Union. Europe Day” is therefore a celebration of peace and unity in Europe. Every year in May, the Turkey EU Association (TURABDER) also known as the European Movement -Turkey organizes a seminar to mark the day and raise awareness about the EU. This year Europe day was commemorated on May 10 at the Elite World Hotel in Istanbul. The news of this activity was on Channel NTV.
Program
Registration: (9:00 -9:15)
Introduction: (9:15 – 9:20) Ela TAŞKENT (General Secretary of Turabder )
Keynote Speaker: (9:20 – 9:45) Ambassador Rauf Engin SOYSAL : Undersecretary of the Ministry of EU Affairs
First Session: (9:45 – 11:00) Current Evaluation of Relations between Turkey & the EU
Ilter TURAN: Bilgi University
Yaprak ALP: Deputy Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of EU Affairs
Özdem SANBERK : President of USAK (International Strategic Research Organization)
Mustafa KUTLAY: USAK Expert on EU Affairs
Moderator: Gül G. TURAN : Turabder’s President
COFFEE BREAK: 11:00 – 11:15
Second Session: (11:15 – 13:00) The EU & Women’s Participation in Social and Political life
Meral TAMER: Journalist
Gulseren ONANÇ: Member of the CHP
Deniz Şenol SERT: Özyeğin University
Moderator: Rana Birden ÇORBACIOĞLU Executive Committee Member of Turabder
LUNCH : 13:00 – 14:30
Third Session: (14:30-16:00) Turkey – EU Relations: A Communication Perspective
Pelin KOCAALP: General Manager at Hill+Knowlton Strategies -Turkey
Bekir AGIRDIR: Konda
Volkan İKİLER: Member of the Executive Committee of the Association of Advertising Agencies.
Ayşegül MOLU: President of the Foundation of Advertising Agencies
Moderator: Uğur Cevdet Panayıcı: Member of TURABDER
Europe Day Celebration
Tuesday May 10th 2016 (9:00 am – 16:00 pm)
Participation is by invitation only
Europe Day commemorates 9 May 1950, when the then French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman presented his proposal on the creation of an organized Europe to help maintain peaceful relations between European countries. This proposal, known as the ‘Schuman declaration’, is considered to be the act that created what is now the European Union. Europe Day” is therefore a celebration of peace and unity in Europe. Every year in May, the Turkey EU Association (TURABDER) also known as the European Movement -Turkey organizes a seminar to mark the day and raise awareness about the EU.
Program
Registration: (9:00 -9:15)
Introduction: (9:15 – 9:20) Ela TAŞKENT (General Secretary of Turabder )
Keynote Speaker: (9:20 – 9:45) Ambassador Rauf Engin SOYSAL : Undersecretary of the Ministry of EU Affairs
First Session: (9:45 – 11:00) Current Evaluation of Relations between Turkey & the EU
Ilter TURAN : Bilgi University
Yaprak ALP: Deputy Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of EU Affairs
Özdem SANBERK : President of USAK (International Strategic Research Organization
MUstafa KUTLAY : USAK
Moderator: Gül G. TURAN : Turabder’s President
COFFEE BREAK: 11:00 – 11:15
Second Session: (11:15 – 13:00) The EU & Women’s Participation in Social and Political life
Meral TAMER: Journalist
Gulseren ONANÇ: Member of the CHP
Deniz Şenol SERT: Özyeğin University
Moderator Rana Birden Çorbacioğlu : ACcountant of Turabder, Women in Foreign Policy Initiative
LUNCH : 13:00 – 14:30
Third Session: (14:30-16:00) Turkey – EU Relations: A Communication Perspective
Pelin KOCAALP: General Manager at Hill+Knowlton Strategies – Turkey
Bekir AGIRDIR: Konda
Volkan İKİLER: Member of the Executive Committee of the Association of Advertising Agencies.
Ayşegül MOLU: President of the Foundation of Advertising Agencies
Moderator: Uğur Cevdet Panayıcı: Member of TURABDER
Tuesday 26 April
The Committee of the Parties to the Istanbul Convention held its third meeting on 26 April in Strasbourg. On this occasion, the Committee had an exchange of views with Ms Feride Acar, the President of the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO), and Mr Sergiy Kyslytsya, Chairperson of the Council of Europe Gender Equality Commission (GEC).
Enlargement: Pro-EU ticket receives landslide support in Serbian elections
According to preliminary results, the ruling Serbian Progressive Party won 51% of votes at the parliamentary elections on Sunday giving Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić the green light to pursue a pro-EU political course. Vučić has only been Prime Minister since 2014 but called these snap elections to have a strong mandate for potentially hard and unpopular reforms necessary to become an EU Member State. Serbia formally started the first stages of EU membership talks in December but faces some significant hurdles, including Croatian opposition. The EU has also stated that there will be no enlargement of the bloc until 2020. Lastly, the election also saw the return of the far-right, anti-EU Radical party with about 7% of the vote, clearing the 5% threshold to enter parliament.
First round of Austrian presidential elections sees rise of far-right party
The first round of the Austrian presidential elections saw the candidates of the two governing parties knocked-out of the running for President. Nortbert Hofer of the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) came a clear first with 36% of the vote, according to preliminary results. His likely opponent in the May 22presidential elections will be Alexander van der Bellen, backed by the Greens, who came second with 20% of the vote. The hope is that anti-FPO Austria will join forces and back van der Bellen, as happened in the French regional election last November. Chancellor Werner Faymann’s Social Democrats and their centre-right caltiion partners the People’s Party both only garnered 11% of the vote. The president is largely a symbolic role but technically has the power to dissolve and reject a government.
Austria’s rightward tendencies were also captured in a study that showed that 75% of Austrians support more border controls. These results will be used by the new Austrian Interior Minister as he goes to South Tyrol to put pressure on Rome an Brussels to increase border controls in the Brenner pass.
Ministry for EU Affairs organised a Civil Society Dialogue Meeting on “Turkey’s EU Accession Process” on 28 April 2016 in Hatay with the participation of Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Ambassador Volkan Bozkır. More than 1500 representatives of civil society organizations, local administrations, business world and universities attended the meeting.
Under the banner of “Active Citizens, Accountable Actions”, ICSW 2016 will feature more than two dozen events organised by leading civil society organisations and will cover 4 crucial themes: peace, inclusion, enabling environment and participation.
The CIVICUS Youth Assembly to be held on 24 April will provide youth and youth organisations with an opportunity to exchange best practices, strengthen collaboration and build capacity.
It will be followed by 3 days of events organised by our partners from around the world. In addition to plenary sessions, workshops and meetings, the Week will also feature documentary screenings, art exhibitions, and local cultural activities. The experiential component of the programme will allow participants to reflect on Colombia’s past and present struggles, and how these relate to their own struggles for social justice and peaceful societies at home.
The week will culminate in the CIVICUS World Assembly and the awarding of this year’s Nelson Mandela-Graça Machel Innovation Awards.
Active Citizens, Accountable Actions
In demanding rights, civil society also has a responsibility to promote positive social and political change, while encouraging other actors to do the same. The following programme tracks explore the different barriers and opportunities to achieving the aspiration of active citizenship underpinned by accountable actions.
http://civicus.org/ICSW/index.php/en/programme
http://civicus.org/ICSW/index.php/en/registration
Background
On 1 July Slovakia took over the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) for the upcoming 6 months. This transfer marks the first time Slovakia has held the Presidency and the second phase of the current rotation, the Presidency having previously been held by the Netherlands and still to be held by Malta for the first 6 months of next year.
Slovak Presidency Briefing
On Tuesday, 19 July 2016, European Movement Ireland held its 10th Presidency Briefing. The Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to Ireland, H.E. Mr Dušan Matulay, and the Minister for European Affairs, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection, Dara Murphy TD, were in attendance to provide an overview and discuss the priorities of the new Presidency.
The Ambassador acknowledged that challenging times lie ahead for the EU, particularly stemming from the UK’s referendum decision last month. However, H.E. Mr Matulay stressed that Slovakia is well placed to assist in the mediation of future negotiations between the EU and the UK, and that this critical juncture should be used to consider how the bond between citizens and the Union can be deepened. H.E. Mr Matulay went on to detail the key ambitions of the Slovak Presidency to bring about tangible results.
Minister Murphy echoed the Ambassador’s call for the EU to foster a united front in the face of current challenges. He also underscored the need for national politicians to acknowledge the role that national governments play in creating EU policies.
At the event, the Ambassador and the Minister launched EM Ireland’s six-month Slovak Presidency Calendar. Download your copy here.
Presidency Priorities
The Slovak Presidency will focus on four key priorities:
Economically Strong Europe
The Slovak Presidency will advocate the need for the EU to foster innovation and competitiveness in a bid to stimulate job creation, through the removal of barriers to investment and the pursuit of structural reforms and responsible fiscal policies. The Slovak Presidency will also push for progress on completing the Economic and Monetary Union, as well as the Capital Markets Union. Further to this, the Presidency will promote an economy in which small and medium-sized enterprises can prosper, by encouraging alternative sources of funding away from banks.
Modern Single Market
In adapting to today’s realities and removing unjustified barriers that hamper its functioning, the Slovak Presidency will be at the forefront of the EU’s continuing effort to strengthen, deepen and modernise the Single Market. The Presidency will particularly focus on the Digital Single Market and the Energy Union, alongside a forward-looking climate policy in line with the COP21 Agreement reached in Paris in December.
A Sustainable Migration and Asylum Policy
The Slovak Presidency will strongly advocate the need to develop tenable, sustainable policies which maintain the freedom of movement ensured by the Schengen Agreement while also maintaining control over EU external borders. Measures promoted by the Slovak Presidency will include the European Border Guard and legislation on Smart Borders, encouraging greater dissemination of border information.
Globally Engaged Europe
Another key component of the Slovak Presidency’s objectives is to bolster and sustain the EU’s position in the world, in line with the EU Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy. The Presidency will pay particular attention to ongoing accession negotiations with candidate countries where a clear European perspective is key to economic and political stability. The Presidency will also advocate the need to continue with negotiations to establish strong trade links with global economic actors.
stanbul Bilgi University and The Turkey-EU Association cordially invite you to the conference organized by the Ministry of EU Affairs’ Directorate of Project Implementation on Erasmus and Youth Programs The talk will be followed by a question and answer session.
The meeting will take place at Okan University’s Kurtköy Campus on April 18 2016 between 10:30 and 12:00. The venue is at room B 306, Faculty of Law building
Introduction
Pre Accession Financial Assistance
Makbule Okat, Expert
Interim
Erasmus and Youth Programs
Sinem Bölükbaşı, EU Affairs Expert
Questions and Answers
