Preview
Is the EU facing a crisis of unity? This will be a key question during the panel entitled "How to stitch the European Union together" at this year's Risks and Trends conference. In the face of war, the EU has decided to take unprecedented steps - it has started financing arms supplies in an ongoing armed conflict, imposed sanctions on Russia and gradually cut economic ties with this key partner. It also maintained its solidarity in opening its borders to the largest number of refugees in its history and, after years of impasse, accelerated the enlargement process. However, the spectre of economic crisis is testing EU solidarity in the face of war. Economic calculation and national interests are playing an increasingly important role in the adoption of successive sanctions packages, and the joint response to the energy crisis is being delayed. The question is: to what extent will the EU remain united in the context of growing economic uncertainty and anxiety of its citizens?
Are we dealing with a crisis of leadership? The invasion of Ukraine exposed the failure of a lenient policy towards Moscow and of strengthening economic interdependence with Russia. It confirmed the validity of the concerns expressed by the Baltic states and Poland, as acknowledged by EurCom President Ursula von der Leyen during her State of the Union address on 14 September, when she stated that "we should have listened to those who know Putin". Russian aggression has not only made Central European countries more assertive, but has also deepened distrust between them and Berlin, which is more lenient towards the Kremlin, and Paris, which seeks dialogue with Moscow. This has sparked debate about the extent to which the Franco-German tandem is able to shape European policy and whether Germany will retain its dominant position among the member states after the Angela Merkel era.
Will the EU reform and expand? Successive crises hitting the Union necessitated a common response, which deepened European integration in, for instance, health, financial management and border protection. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, a recovery fund of unprecedented scale was set up, financed by common loans. Now the key challenge is the war. During the panel, we will consider whether it can provide an impetus for stronger cooperation in the EU or even - as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants - shape it along new lines, e.g. by moving from unanimity to qualified majority voting on certain issues. Scholz has made further enlargement of the EU conditional on this reform, which requires the agreement of all capitals. Although the Czech presidency is probing the possibility of a change in voting methods, opposition has already been signalled by, for instance, Poland.
Will it retain its important geopolitical role? In recent years, the Union has strengthened its role in the world by exporting policies in important areas of the global economy, such as climate or digitalisation, and through the rise of the euro as an international currency. The bloc has also begun to develop its assertiveness within the framework of strategic autonomy, which is becoming an important tool for commercial and economic independence from global players such as China. However, the war has highlighted the importance of partnership in the bloc's immediate neighbourhood - the European Political Community, whose first summit took place in Prague on 6 October, is to become such a forum for cooperation with the closest neighbours. It was attended by the United Kingdom, which is loosening its relations with the community following Brexit, Turkey, which is often assertive vis-à-vis the EU, and the Western Balkan and Eastern Partnership countries, some of which are hoping to join.
the panellists
The panel "How to stitch the EU back together" will feature Zaki Laïdi, Senior Advisor to Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Our guest is a professor of international relations at Sciences Po in Paris, and between 2014 and 2016 served as security advisor in the cabinet of Manuel Valls, then French Prime Minister. Jaroslav Kurfürst, the Czech Deputy MinFor, a diplomat with experience in Belgium and the US, will also take part in the conversation. Our guests will also include sociologist Gerald Knaus, founder of the think tank European Stability Initiative (ESI), who has lectured in Ukraine, among other places. 
