Details

Draft Programme

"THE IDEA OF SOLIDARITY AND THE FUTURE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION"

Seminar to the commemoration of 25th anniversary of “Solidarnosc” in Brussels

Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Brussels, September 13, 2005

12.30 hSandwich-Lunch

13.00 h

Welcome by

Boguslaw Andrzej SONIK, Member of the European Parliament

Dr Peter WEILEMANN, Director of the European Office Brussels, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung

13.15 – 14.30 h

Panel I : Solidarity in Modern Political Philosophy

Chair: Prof. Milowit KUMINSKI, Vice-President of Centre for Political Thought in Krakow (PL) and Professor in the Institute of Philosophy Jagiellonian University of Krakow

Prof. Andreas KINNEGING, Professor of Legal Philosophy at Leiden (NL), Chairman of Edmund Burke Foundation

Drawing inspiration from Christianity and democratic socialism, Solidarity’s bloodless insurrection and subsequent triumph attracted support from across the political spectrum – both within Poland and throughout the West, contributing to the collapse of Soviet Communism.

This session is concerned with the classical roots of the idea of solidarity and its evolution on the background of European political history in the 19th and 20th century as well as its relation with European identity and open society.

The session will also address the practical consequences of theoretical principles of the idea of solidarity.

14.45 – 16.00 h

Panel II : Solidarity in Christian Social Teaching

Chair: Prof. Czesław PORĘBSKI, Professor at Tischner European University, Krakow (PL), Philosopher and Ethicist

Bishop Prof Tadeusz PIERONEK, (PAT, Krakow)

Eberhard CHERDRON, President of the Protestant Church of the Pfalz, Speyer (D)

Dr Dariusz KARLOWICZ, Philosopher and Journalist, Warsaw (PL)

Issues will be the role of the idea of solidarity in Christian social teaching and the question in what way it serves as a principle in multi-cultural and multi-religious dialogue.

- 30 minutes coffee break -

16.00 – 17.30 h

Panel III : Solidarity in the European Union - Political Reality and Practical Problems

Chair: Prof. Zdisław KRASNODĘBSKI, Professor of Sociology at the University of Bremen (D)

Jacek Emil SARYUSZ-WOLSKI MEP, Member of the European Parliament, Vice President of the EP,

Dr Marek A. CICHOCKI, Former Programme Director of the Centre for International Relations, Warsaw (PL)

The process of agreement and the harmonisation of diverse professional and social groups fundamentally shape the EU. Disputes did not only shape Europe in the 20th century but surround also the procedures of decision making in the EU today.

The session will highlight the idea of solidarity in this context, focussing on issues like the support provided for the less affluent EU member states by more affluent ones (liabilities and advantages connected with structural funds), capital transfer in the EU and the problem of cultural identity of the European community and the future of the integration process (involving also the opening of the Union to the Islamic world).

17.45 – 19.00 h

Panel IV : Solidarity in the Age of Gobalisation / Global solidarity. A utopia or politics

Chair: Prof. Kenneth MINOGUE, Emeritus Professor at the London School of Economics (GB)

Dr. Sabine WEYAND, Chef of Cabinet Louis Michel of the European Commission (Commissar for Development and Humanitarian Aid)

Dr. Dennis O’KEEFFE, Professor of Social Science at Buckingham (GB), University and Senior Research Fellow in Education at the Institute of Economic Affairs

The session deals with the question of global solidarity and the possible role and the means of the European Union in overcoming the economic backwardness of the Third World Countries.

19.00 – 19.15 h

Concluding Remarks: Prof. Ryszard LEGUTKO

President of the Centre for Political Thought in Krakow (PL), Philosopher, Professor at the Jagiellonian University