What is this three day session about?
Building on our inspiring last session, the group «Passion for Europe» will organize a second 2-day session of dialogue and encounter at the Spiritual Centre “La Pairelle” to share the Christian vision of Europe’s current situation and the long-term global challenges.
In preparation of the Conference on the Future of Europe, the group Passion for Europe together with the Jesuit European Social Centre (JESC) invites you to a session on the "Future of Europe: Which common home, borders and bridges, after the crisis?" Natural habitats, society, politics are structured by borders, boundaries and barriers.
It is in our human nature to struggle for solidarity and integration as well.The recent crises (terrorism, financial and migratory flows, pandemic) led to borders closure, between nations, generations, cultures and peoples. EU resilience will not only be economic, integrative mechanisms have to be further developed,so that fragmentation and distrust in the EU does not prevail. And to ensure that the «common home» founders spirit remains at the center of Europe's future, as well as the care for the common good.The two-day session will serve as a space to discuss these major challenges.
To Europe we can put the questions:
“Where is your vigour? Where is that idealism which inspired and ennobled your history?
Where is your spirit of curiosity and enterprise?
Where is your thirst for truth, a thirst which hitherto you have passionately shared with the world?”
Pope Francis, Nov 25, 2014, Council of Europe
“Where is your vigour? Where is that idealism which inspired and ennobled your history?
Where is your spirit of curiosity and enterprise?
Where is your thirst for truth, a thirst which hitherto you have passionately shared with the world?”
Pope Francis, Nov 25, 2014, Council of Europe
In preparation for the session, we kindly invite you to study the texts
found in our readings reference list, available below
found in our readings reference list, available below
The Speakers & Moderators
Alain LamassoureAlain Lamassoure is a French politician and former Member of the European Parliament for the south-west of France until 2019. He was a member of Les Républicains, which is part of the European People's Party, and was the chairman of the EP's Committee on Budgets from July 2009 until June 2014. In 1995, he became president of the Bayonne-Anglet-Biarritz Agglomeration Community, a position he held until 2001. He was then president of the Council of Elected Representatives of the Basque Country until 2008. Alain’s experience includes being a Member of the European Convention presided over by former French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing. Alain was in charge of writing parts of the Treaty of Lisbon, and is a member of the European Movement France, which he has been vice-president of, and has had a relationship with the diverse European federalist groups.
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Jean PeyronyJean Peyrony is the Director General of the Cross-Border Operational Mission (Mission opérationnelle transfrontalière) or MOT, in Paris. Jean's previous positions include as an expert seconded by France to the European Commission to the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy. Jean was also the Head of Mission in the Interministerial Delegation for Territorial Planning and Regional Attractiveness (DATAR), and for territorial cooperation and cohesion policy-making 2007/2013. Jean also headed the Regional Observatory Group in the Regional Office of Infrastructure of Île-de-France, where he was involved in formulating the 1994 master plan, and project manager for urban planning operations in Île-de-France and Réunion.
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Katharina ErdmengerKatharina Erdmenger is currently the Head of Unit/Department at the Permanent Representation of Germany to the European Union, under the German Federal Ministry of the Interior. This unit deals with various policy areas, including Home Affairs, Cybersecurity, Internal Security, and Urban and Housing Development. Previous to this, Katharina worked as Head of Unit for European Spatial Development/Territorial Cohesion, first under the Federal Ministry of Transport, then the Federal Ministry of the Interior. Within this role, Katharina worked on several areas, including the EU Territorial Agenda, Structural Funds - such as for EU Cities - as well as Maritime Spatial Planning, and EU Cross-Border Cooperation. Katharina has previous experience working, for example, for the German Trade Union Confederation, on issues related to social policies, social dialogue, and the EU Budget funds.
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Monsignor Aldo GiordanoMonsignor Aldo Giordano is the current Apostolic Ambassador of the Holy See to the European Union, commencing his role in 2021. Monsignor Giordano was ordained a priest in 1979, and from 1982 to 1996 he was Professor of Philosophy and Interfaith Theological Study at the Higher School of Religious Sciences in Cuneo, Italy. In 1995 he was elected Secretary General of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences and moved to the headquarters of the Secretariat in St. Gallen, Switzerland), holding this position for 13 years. In 2008 he was appointed Permanent Observer of the Holy See in the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, and in 2013 the Ambassador of the Holy See to Venezuela, the same year in which he was consecrated as Bishop. In September 2013, he published a book: Another Europe Is Possible, Christian Ideals and Perspectives for the Ancient Continent, in which he collected the experiences and reflections of nearly 20 years of church service in Europe.
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Gyula OcskayGyula Ocskay has been working for Budapest-based CESCI (Central European Service for Cross-Border Cooperation) since its foundation in 2009 as Secretary General. Previously, he was involved in cross-border development in Esztergom and lectured on Political Philosophy and Political Sciences at the Pázmány Péter Catholic University. He wrote his first essay on cross-border regionalism in 1992. Since then he has been dealing with regional issues and social and political theory of space. In 2013 he was awarded the Pálfi István award together with Luc Van den Brande for their work in cross-border issues and cooperation.
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Henning vom SteinHenning is the executive partner at Otone European Affairs, having over 25 years of experience in public affairs and in research, including positions such as Director of the European office of the Mechanical Engineering Industry Association, and as Head of the Brussels Office and Group Representative Benelux for Thyssenkrupp AG. In a similar role, Henning was the Head of the Liaison Office to the European Union for Commerzbank AZ. Henning is also currently the Public Policy Commissioner at the European Technology Chamber (EUTEC), an NGO with the goal to enable European businesses to use their technologies for the benefit of Europe and humanity. Aside from this, from 2013-2018 he headed the think tank Bertelsmann Stiftung, building strategic partnerships with stakeholders.
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Victoria Martin de la TorreVictoria Martín de la Torre is a Spanish journalist working as Spokesperson of the S&D Group President in the European Parliament. Before arriving in Brussels, she worked as a reporter at the weekly magazine Tiempo for over a decade, covering EU-Arab World relations. She was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 1998 and she got a MS degree at Columbia University School of Journalism (New York) in 1999. In 2003, she specialized in EU Foreign Policy at the College of Europe (Bruges). She is the author of two books: “Viaje a la ciudad de Belén. Cuna del amor, semilla de intifada” (A trip to Bethlehem, cradle of love, seed of intifada) published in 2008 and “Europe, a Leap into the Unknown”, published in 2014. She is also the founder and president of the Abraham Forum for Inter-Religious and Intercultural Dialogue in Madrid, which was launched in 2009
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Philippe Lamberts Philippe is a Belgian politician serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2009. He is a member of Ecolo, within the Greens–European Free Alliance. Philippe graduated as an engineer in applied mathematics from the Catholic University of Louvain. From 1987 to 2009, he held various commercial and managerial positions at IBM. In June 2009, he was elected to the European Parliament for a first term, during which he mainly dealt with banking and financial regulations. On 25 May 2014, he was re-elected as MEP, and one month later became Co-President of the Greens/EFA Group following an internal election process. After five years dedicated to strengthening the position of environmentalists within and outside the European institutions, Philippe was re-elected in 2019 for a third and last term to the European Parliament and re-elected as co-president of the Greens/EFA Group. For his final term as MEP, Philippe aims to keep climate emergency at the top of the European agenda and will continue the fight for social, economic and environmental justice.
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Pierre Larrouturou Pierre is a French economist and politician, a former regional councilor of the Île-de-France, in May 2019 he was elected as a Member of the European Parliament as a member of the French Socialist Party, within the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D). Previous to his political career, Pierre worked for 11 years in a strategy consulting firm, Arthur Andersen, which became Accenture. In his political career, Pierre has worked to advocate for European New Deals to finance the fight against climate change. In November 2018, he was chosen to be one of the 12 members of the High Council for Climate created by Emmanuel Macron. In December 2019, he was appointed as the Parliament’s General Rapporteur for the EU Budget. To put Climate Change on the agenda, in December 2019 Pierre brought about 30 young climate activists into the Parliament. In June 2020, he started the 700 "3 Solutions for Climate and Jobs" Appeal. Most recently, In October 2020, he went on hunger strike to put pressure on the European Council in order for the Heads of State and Government to finally accept the introduction of a full Financial Transaction Tax that would provide the European budget with more than 50 billion euros per year "for Health, Climate and Employment" by taxing speculation.
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Botond Feledy
Botond Feledy is a lawyer, foreign policy expert and commentator. He is currently serving as the Secretary for Leadership at JESC, in particular, managing the European Leadership Programme (ELP). Previously, he worked in the Hungarian Province of the Jesuits as Rector of St Ignatius College, and later as Director of the Institute for Social Reflection. In 2017 he was elected as member of the #NewEurope100, a joint initiative of Google, Financial Times, Visegrad Fund and the Polish Res Publica Foundation to choose yearly the hundred most transformative persons of the Central European region. He was one of the founders and editor in chief of the Hungarian thematic foreign policy news portal called Kitekintő in 2007, and has researched extensively Cyber Security and Russian influence in Central Europe. He had worked previously at the European Parliament in Brussels, where he co-founded a simulation game initiative “Negotiation Moot” where players participate at virtual European Summits. The “MediaStorm” simulation is another development of his together with a former MTI (Hungarian Press Agency) colleague, where Mr Feledy was head of the foreign affairs desk in 2011-12.
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Organizers
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JESC - Jesuit European Social Centre
Our core mission at JESC is to reflect on the life, policies and practice of the European Union. We seek engagement which authentically expresses Christian faith, remains close to the poor and marginalised, analyses the social reality with competence, and advocates for justice in European political structures. In a context in which the EU is undergoing the most acute political and economic crisis of its existence, JESC seeks a critical but constructive engagement with the EU.
As a work of the Jesuit Conference of European Provincials, JESC expresses the commitment of the Society of Jesus to a Europe where human rights, freedom, and solidarity are the foundation of integration.
As a work of the Jesuit Conference of European Provincials, JESC expresses the commitment of the Society of Jesus to a Europe where human rights, freedom, and solidarity are the foundation of integration.
“Passion for Europe
A group of Christians of different nationalities and confessions involved in EU activities, was formed as a place to exchange on Europe’s future, based on Pope Francis vision for Europe and the Social Teaching of the Church.
