P R O G R A M

30 January (Thursday) – Arriving and Accommodation of the Participants

19.30 – Official Dinner

31 January (Friday)

9.00 – 9.30 – Registration of the Participants

9.30 – 10.00 – OPENING SESSION

– Dr. Zdravko Popov, President of the Public Policy Institute

– Dr. Klaus Fiesinger, Regional Director for South-East Europe of the Hanns Seidel Foundation

FIRST PANEL SESSION

10.00 – Prof. Dr. Ingrid Shikova, Department of European Studies, Head of Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – “An Ever-Differentiated Union”

10.30 – Maria Sapardani, EU Law Expert, Centre of International and European Economic Law – “Coherence and Consistency of Action in the Field of EU External Relations: The Duty of Sincere Cooperation and Its Constitutional Limits”

11.00 – Coffee Break

11.30 – Dr. Yasen Georgiev, Executive Director of the Economic Policy Institute – “Internal Dynamics of the European Union in the Beginning of the New Decade – Peers and Perspectives”

12.00 – Dr. Virginia Tzortzi, Secretary of the Centre of International and European Economic Law, Lecturer in Democritus University of Trace Law School – “The European Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Protection of Human Rights”

13.00 – 14.00 – LUNCH

SECOND PANEL SESSION

14.00 – Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tatyana Tomova, Head of the Public Administration Department, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – “Prospects for European Social Policy and Challenges for Member States”

14.30 – Elli Tsitsipa, EU Law Expert, Centre of International and European Economic Law – “The Articulation of the Principle of Mutual Trust with the Principles of Supremacy of EU Law and Sincere Cooperation”

15.00 – Dr. Alexander Lazarov, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”/ Senior Expert in Artificial Intelligence Policy Program of the Public Policy Institute – “Apparent AI Advancement and its Challenges”

15.30 – Coffee Break

16.00 – Ioanna Markou, Department of Balkan, Slavic and Oriental Studies of the University of Macedonia – “The Authoritarian Backlash in Europe”

16.30 – Dr. Rositsa Filatova, Department of Political Sciences, Sofia University – “The Future of the Security of Europe – Cooperation between EU and NATO”

19.30 – Informal Dinner

1 FEBRUARY (Saturday)

9.00 – Assoc. Prof. Dr. Grigoris Zarotiadis, Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Political Sciences, Aristotle University – “European Union: A Cross-Eyed Union”

9.30 – Assoc. Prof. DPS. Kaloyan Simeonov, Head of the European Studies Department, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – “The Future of the Eurozone”

10.00 – Ioannis Anastasiadis, Director of ELIKAS, European Groups of Territorial Cooperation – “European Groups of Territorial Cooperation as a Form of Multilevel Governance”

10.30 – Hristo Kutiev, Institute for the State and Law, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences/ Board Member of the Public Policy Institute – “EU Security Systems – Problems and Perspectives”

11.00 – Zdravko Popov, President of the Public Policy Institute and Bogdan Mirtchev, Head of the Hanns Seidel Foundation-Bulgaria – Closing Remarks

12.00 – LUNCH

13.00 – Departure of the Participants