The European Union Centre of Excellence at York is pleased to present the third in its  series EUCE Lectures in Law and Governance on March 8, 2011“Power and Legitimacy: Reconciling Europe and the Nation-State”. The lecture will be given by EUCE York Visiting Scholar Prof. Peter Lindseth (School of Law, University of Connecticut) from 12:30-2:00 pm in room 108 Osgoode Hall Law School (building #32 on the map found here). In this paper, Prof. Lindseth looks to history to provide an explanation of the nature and legitimacy of European governance by providing detailed examination of certain fundamental but often overlooked elements in EU history.

Prof. Sakis Gekas (History, York) will act as a discussant.

This event is co-presented with the Osgoode Hall Law School’s Putting Theory in Practice Series (PTTP) as well as the Comparative Research in Law & Political Economy Network (CLPE).

This is an open event, but attendees are asked to preregister at euce@yorku.ca

On March 7^th, 2011, the European Union Centre of Excellence (EUCE) at York University, Toronto, will be hosting a one-day conference, convening under the theme: “The Maturing of the Multicultural Experiment: European Challenges Coming to Canada?” Scholars and activists from across Canada and around the globe will be meeting at York’s Keele Campus to share their ideas on this timely and compelling topic.

This is an open event. Interested scholars, students, and members of the public are cordially invited to attend, but are requested to preregister by March 1^st at euce@yorku.ca. Light lunch will be served.

More details on this event can be found at the conference webpage.

Date: March 7, 2011
Time: 8:30-5:00 pm
Location: 519 York Research Tower (building #95 on the map found here)

The European Union Centre of Excellence project housed at CCGES will presenta graduate student conference on March 11/12, 2010 at York’s Glendon campus. This conference convenes around the title “Europe in Troubled Waters/L’Europe en eaux troubles” and will be conducted in both English and French. 

The challenges facing the European Union and its member states at the present are considerable. From economic and security challenges, through to questions around the sustainability of a variety of social program, Europe is faced with problems likely requiring new solutions; the new Europe demands a new way.

Graduate students interested in participating are invited to submit paper abstracts on topics including, but not limited to:
– The future of European security
– Questioning European federalism and confederation
– European economic and political fissures
– The future of Europe’s social welfare state
– Triad relations between Canada, the U.S., and Europe
– Europe’s demise of ‘Machtpolitiks’ and its subscription to a ‘Kantian order’
– Europeans come from Venus, Americans from Mars
– The United States and Europe: In search of a new transatlantic pact
– Towards a European foreign policy concerning energy
– The EU and China: Is it an equal partnership or is it dependence?
– What type of international actor is the EU?
– What is the future for the European Neighbourhood Policy?

For more details on the conference including a French-language version of the call, please write conference organizers at <euconf@yorku.ca> or  click on:
2011 EUCE York Graduate Student Conference – Call for Papers

Using the past twenty years of European integration as its backdrop, this paper by Prof. Suzanne Kingston (EUCE York Visiting Scholar/School of Law, University College Dublin) will ask whether, with many of the low-hanging fruit in the integration process already picked, there are inherent limits to the integration process. This paper offers critical discussion of this question with specific reference to some key frontiers of European integration following the failure of the EU’s Constitutional Treaty (2004) and the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon (2009). Particular attention will be paid to the fields of (a) foreign policy and external affairs; (b) the “social market economy”; and (c) “values” and fundamental rights.

The lecture will take place on Tuesday, March 15th from 12:30-2:00 pm in Room 519 York Research Tower (building #95 on the map found here).

All are welcome and light refreshments will be provided. Attendees are asked to preregister with euce@yorku.ca

European Central Bank, Frankfurt

The European Union Centre of Excellence at York, the Canadian Centre for German and European Studies  and the Schulich School of Business’ IMBA program were pleased to co-present a roundtable discussion featuring York faculty which looked at the future of the European Union in light on the economic crisis currently gripping the region. This event will took place on Tuesday, March 1st from 2:00 to 4:00 pm in 305 York Lanes (building #24 on the map found here)

Should you have been unable to attend this event, you will find the opening statements of the four contributors at this link.

Speaking first is Sakis Gekas (Assistant Professor, History) who provides a brief historical overview of how the EU has arrived in its current situation.
He is followed by Theodore Tolias (Adjunct Professor, Economics/Schulich School of Business)  who ponders the specific roots of the crisis and its potential outcomes. Ulrich Best (DAAD Visiting Professor, Geography) then rejects the labeling of the present situation as a “crisis” and argues that it will not cause major damage to “the European project”. The last speaker is Burkard Eberlein (Associate Professor, Public Policy/Schulich School of Business) who provides more insight into the “structural failures” of fiscal policy born out of political, and not economic, considerations.