FRIDAY, 16 OCTOBER 2009

1945   Keynote speeches by

Olli Rehn, European Commissioner for Enlargement

Mehmet Şimşek, Minister of Finance of the Republic of Turkey

Egemen Bağış, Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator of the Republic of Turkey
   

Seminar and discussions

Çırağan Palace Kempsinki
Çırağan Cad. No: 32 Beşiktaş, İstanbul

0915-1000   Openning Speeches

Pierre Lellouche, Minister for European Affairs of the French Republic

Egemen Bağış, Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator of the Republic of Turkey

1000-1100   Session 1: EU-Turkey relations:                      The critical year of 2009

Chair: John Peet, Europe Editor, The Economist

• What progress has there been in the accession negotiations?
• How would Turkey and EU adjust to the challenging Ankara protocol?
• Which areas are most promising for reinforced EU-Turkey co-operation?

Onur Öymen, Retired Ambassador, MP (CHP), Vice President of Republican People's Party (CHP), Grand National Assembly of Turkey

David Král, Director, EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy

Bahadır Kaleağası, TÜSİAD International Coordinator, Brussels

1130-1300  Session 2: Belonging, layered identity and the                     European project

Chair: Prof. Dr. Ayhan Kaya, Director of European Institute, İstanbul Bilgi University

• Is a mono-layered European identity possible or even desirable?
• How can EU and Turkey work to come over these layers?

Ruprecht Polenz, MP (CDU), Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee, German Bundestag

Zafer Üskül, MP (AKP), Chairman of the Human Rights Inquiry Committee, Grand National Assembly of Turkey

Gökçe Tüylüoğlu, Executive Director - Open Society Foundation, Turkey

1300-1430   Lunch

1430-1600   Session 3: Europe’s global challenges &                      Strategic co-operation

Chair: Katinka Barysch, Deputy Director, Centre for European Reform (CER)

• How does the EU benefit from Turkey’s growing regional and global role?
• How can Turkey benefit from the EU's foreign and security policy?
• Are the EU’s achievements – single market, euro, enlargement – under threat?

Matthew Kirk,  Group External Affairs Director, Vodafone Group

Suat Kınıklıoğlu, MP (AKP), Deputy Chairman of External Affairs, Grand National Assembly of Turkey

1600-1630   Coffee break

1630-1745   Session 4: Outlook for Europe and                     Turkey  

                    Summing up of previous discussions, conclusions and                     formulations of policy recommendations

Chair: Mehmet Ali Birand, Editor in Chief, CNN Turk & Channel D News Department

Murat Mercan, MP (AKP), Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Grand National Assembly of Turkey

Heather Grabbe, Director, Open Society Institute, Brussels (tbc)

Mustafa Aydın, Professor of International Relations, TOBB University of Economics and Technology