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The European Union’s green leadership and the European Council

Webinar · 06.05.2021 15:00 - 16:30

Thursday 6 May 2021, 15.00 – 16.30 EEST / 14.00 – 15.30 CEST

Europe has embarked on an ambitious mission to transform its economy towards carbon neutrality and sustainable green growth by 2050. The EU’s Green Deal sets out a broad political agenda to do so, including global steering. The EU’s external efforts are highly topical also in light of the approaching 26th UN Climate Conference of the Parties (COP26) in the UK later this year. The European Council has played a key role in setting out the EU’s ambition and goals at the highest political level of the Union. Given the increasingly competitive global environment, also shaped by the disruptions brought by the pandemic, there is an increasing demand for green leadership. What are the key internal and external challenges of the EU’s green aspirations? How can the European Council alleviate these and provide leadership? What does Finland expect from the COP26?

Registrations by 4 May to maija.salonen@fiia.fi

Speakers

Jim Cloos

Secretary-General, TEPSA

Jim Cloos is the Secretary General of TEPSA – the Trans European Policy Study Association. He is a former Deputy Director General for General and Institutional Policy at the General Secretariat of the EU Council of Ministers. Between 2001 and 2006, he was a close collaborator of High Representative Javier Solana. From 1995 to 1999, he was Head of Cabinet to the President of the European Commission and his G7/8 Sherpa. Between 1993 and 1995, he headed the Cabinet of the Commissioner in charge of agriculture. Mr. Cloos took an active part in the drafting of the Maastricht Treaty during the Luxembourg Presidency in the first half of 1991.

Outi Honkatukia

Head of Climate Unit, Ministry of the Environment

Outi Honkatukia heads the Environment Ministry’s Climate Unit that focuses on national, EU and international climate policy issues. She has been in the UN climate negotiations since 2008 and is currently one of EU’s lead negotiators with a special focus on climate finance. Prior to joining the Environment Ministry, she worked in the Finance Ministry and the OECD Secretariat in Paris. Honkatukia holds a Licentiate (pre-doctoral) Degree in Economics from the University of Helsinki.

Comments

Marco Siddi

Senior Research Fellow, FIIA

Dr Marco Siddi is Senior Research Fellow at FIIA, where he focuses primarily on EU-Russia relations, European politics and EU energy and climate policy. His publications include the monograph "European Identities and Foreign Policy Discourses on Russia: From the Ukraine to the Syrian Crisis" (Routledge, 2020) and articles in various academic journals, including Europe-Asia Studies, Politics, Geopolitics, The International Spectator, German Politics, Russian Politics, Journal of Contemporary European Studies and International Politics.

Wolfgang Wessels

Visiting Professor, College of Europe, Bruges and Natolin

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels is Visiting Professor at the College of Europe, Bruges and Natolin. He was Director of the Institut für Europäische Politik in Bonn (1973-1993) and Head of the Department of Political and Administrative Studies at the College of Europe in Bruges (1980-1996). From 1994 to 2016, he held a Jean-Monnet-Chair at the University of Cologne. He was also a member of the high level group of the European Commission for the reform of the CFSP and for the revision of the Treaty of Maastricht (1995-1997). Prof. Wessels held the Chaire Européenne at Sciences Po Paris (1999) and was Jean Monnet Visiting Professor at the Robert Schuman Center for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute in Florence (2000). Since 2016, he has been Director of the Centre for Turkey and European Union Studies (CETEUS) at the University of Cologne. Since 2010, he has been Vice-President of the German consortium for the foundation of the Turkish-German University, Istanbul. Since 2017, Prof. Wessels has been part time professor at the European University Institute in Florence.

Moderator

Juha Jokela

Programme Director, FIIA

Dr Juha Jokela is the Programme Director of the European Union research programme at FIIA. His current research interests include political implications of Brexit, and differentiated integration in EU’s external relations. His previous projects and publications include EU’s sanctions policy, political and security developments in the Arctic, EU’s role in the G20, Europeanization of foreign policy, and Finland’s EU policy. Previously he has worked at the EUISS as a Senior Associated Analyst and Senior Visiting Research Fellow, Advisor at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, and Research Fellow and Director of the Network for European Studies at the University of Helsinki. Dr Jokela holds a PhD from the University of Bristol (UK).