On 17th and 18th October 2019, United Europe’s 16th Young Professionals Seminar will take place in beautiful Lisbon (arrival on 16th, departure on 19th October). In cooperation with Lusíada University, we are inviting 20 to 25 European young talents from all professions between 25 and 35 years to a seminar on:
How to strengthen the Eurozone
Beginning of 2018, it seemed that the Euro crisis has been overcome. According to an article, published in the Financial Times, “Five long years after the 2011 double-dip recession and Mario Draghi’s “whatever it takes” pledge, the Eurozone recovery is finally real. (…) Just a year ago, sceptics were discussing how, not if, the Eurozone would break up. Today, investors are piling into Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Greek debt. Rating agencies are distributing upgrades.”
Now, seven years after, the Eurozone as a whole looks healthy and stable; since the financial crisis 1.4 trillion euros were saved in in interest rates. The euro countries are out of crisis mode; they comply with the deficit rules, have created 14 million additional jobs and form the strongest economic zone in the world with the densest global free trade network.
However, despite the positive headlines there is still a lack of convergence between the Eurozone countries that need to be stabilised to reduce internal pressures. The crisis strands causing the euro crisis – the banking crisis, the sovereign debt crisis and the competitiveness crisis – are far from being resolved. The national debt problem continues to escalate. Greece, France and Italy, for example, revealed below average or even negative GDP growth rates for several years.
The political spectrum in the eurozone is becoming more radical and the willingness to find common solutions in the eurozone is declining more and more. The banks, soaked with bad loans, are paralysing the private sector. In the crisis countries, an entire generation is being deprived of its opportunities for life and the future. At the same time, a new world disorder threatens, in which a weak Europe will hardly play a role in shaping globalization according to its values.
The seminar discusses the current status of the Eurozone and defines what is necessary to keep it stable.
Issues to be discussed are:
– How can the EU meet the new internal and external challenges, and what institutional changes could help?
– How do the European elections and the Brexit affect the Eurozone?
– How did Portugal and Ireland overcome the crisis – can they be role models for other countries?
– What are the current advantages for Italy and Spain, can best practices help?
– In what way do China and the BRI influence the Eurozone and European integration?
– What can and are politics and businesses doing to prevent the next crisis?
The seminar language will be English.
As a prework, applicants are required to write a short text (1 – 2 DIN A4 pages/6.500 characters max) prior to the event about the question:
“How can the EU meet the new internal and external challenges, and what institutional changes could help?”
You are welcome to create the essay from your personal view and considering the specific situation of your country.
Applications must include this very text, a brief cover letter indicating interest and motivation (1 page, including the question, what you expect from this Seminar), together with a CV (incl. a photo and the date of birth, max. 2 pages). All documents must be submitted electronically in PDF format in English language and should not exceed 2 GB. We can only consider complete applications.
Please send your application in one document until 1st July, 2019 (12:00 am) to .