Prague European Summit


The Prague European Summit is a platform for a regular high-level strategic debate on the future of the European Union and other European issues. It is the only platform of this kind focused on the European Union in Central and Eastern Europe. It offers space for an informal dialogue among political representatives, high-ranking state officials, representatives of interest groups, businessmen, academicians and journalists.
The Prague European Summit is organised by a consortium of the EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy and the Institute of International Relations Prague.
The summit has been held annually since 2015 at Lobkowicz Palace at Prague Castle and Czernin Palace, headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. Since the 2019 edition, Czernin Palace has been the sole venue.
The 2020 Prague European Summit was held from the 18th until the 19 November 2020.

International Programme Board

The current members of the International Programme Board are:

Awardees

The annual conference includes a variety of ambitious and unique formats, such as plenary sessions, high-level ministerial panels, Night-Owl Sessions, Oxford Debates and discussion breakfasts at Prague's embassies.

2015

The pilot year of Prague European Summit took place on 12–13 November 2015. Entitled "European Union Institutions Fit for External Challenges", the aim of the conference was to re-think both the inner institutional setting of the EU and the impact its decision-making mechanisms will have on the implementation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the EU.
Among the notable speakers of this pilot year were Frans Timmermans, First Vice-President of the European Commission, Thierry Chopin, Research Director at the Robert Schuman Foundation, Tomáš Sedláček, chief macroeconomist at ČSOB Bank, Iryna Solonenko, researcher at European University Viadrina and Associate Fellow at the Robert Bosch Center for Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia, or Jana Hybášková, head of the Delegation of the EU to Namibia.
The conference included a key-note speech by Lubomír Zaorálek, the minister of foreign affairs of the Czech Republic, in which he emphasised the importance of acting as a united Europe and avoiding the freeriding of some members. Alluding to the situation before WW1, he warned against sleepwalking into a conflict because of a lack of trust and communication. He cited pooling of resources and improved management of the EU's external border as the two necessary measures to tackle the migration crisis. Building walls on the inner borders of EU states, however, would constitute an undesirable policy.

2016

The second conference of the Prague European Summit took place between 6–8 June 2016 and focused on the EU's "togetherness", solidarity and cohesion, bearing the title "EU in a Time of Crisis: Better Together?”
The conference was attended by the prime ministers of the V4 countries: Bohuslav Sobotka of the Czech Republic, Beata Szydło of Poland, Robert Fico of Slovakia, and Viktor Orbán of Hungary. Other notable speakers included Kristalina Georgieva, European Commission vice-president, Country Director of Google in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Tania le Moigne, Agata Gostynska-Jakubowska, research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, or Tim Worstall, fellow at the Adam Smith Institute, or Brian Whitmore, journalist and analyst of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
The Vision for Europe award was awarded to Mr. Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels, Professor and Jean-Monnet-Chair, University of Cologne.

2017

The third Prague European Summit was held on 13–15 June 2017. Its aim was to discuss pressing European issues, among others the rise of populism, political radicalisation and propaganda, Brexit, relations of EU and Russia or China, and also the single market, the banking union and the European digital market. Part of the programme were, apart from the plenary sessions, three discussion breakfasts at Prague embassies, three Prague Talks and the annually bestowed Vision for Europe award ceremony.
The keynote address was delivered by the former prime minister of the Czech Republic Bohuslav Sobotka. In his speech, he touched upon the threat of international terrorism, the need for reform of the EU or the issues of the European economy. However, he appreciated the effort the Union is making to become a more independent international actor and he emphasized the importance of a rational approach to European problem-solving concerning economy, globalization and technological advancement. He also mentioned the migration crisis, collapse of states in the Middle East, armed conflicts in the region and terrorism that imply the need for a better protection of EU citizens, strengthening of the Common Security and Defence Policy and tighter cooperation between NATO and EU.
File:High Level Ministerial Panel.jpg|thumb|Alexander Grubmayr, Ryan Heath, Miroslav Lajčák and Lubomír Zaorálek during a panel debate at the Prague European Summit 2017
Other significant speakers were for instance Eric Maurice, Editor-in-Chief of EUobserver, Simon Nixon, Chief European commentator at the Wall Street Journal, Massimo D’Alema, former prime minister of Italy, Rudolf Jindrák from the Office of the President of the Czech Republic, Taavi Rõivas, former prime minister of Estonia, the then ministers of foreign affairs of the Czech Republic and Slovakia Lubomír Zaorálek and Miroslav Lajčák, Governor of the Czech National Bank Jiří Rusnok, and also experts from leading European universities, research centres and non-profit organizations, as well as journalists who report on European affairs, and businesspeople.
The Summit of 2017 was enriched by guests called new voices – representatives of civil society, activists and future leaders, who usually do not attend the traditional type of conferences. The name stems from the aim to broaden the horizons of the summit to new voices carrying new thoughts and redefining mainstream thinking.
The Vision for Europe award was given to Timothy Garton Ash, a historian, writer and commentator. He is a professor of European Studies at the University of Oxford and author of a number of publications about the history of contemporary Europe and its transformation over the last thirty years.