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The fifth edition of the Winter (Online) Lecture Series on Europe will take place at the 8xav�������� of Luxembourg from 2^nd to 17 December 2024 in connection with the courses “History of European integration (1919-1993)” (MAHEC-142) and “Economic and social history of Europe after 1945: concepts, processes, actors” (MAHEC-63) from the Master in European Contemporary History, and the course “Democratic transitions in Central and Eastern Europe” (BCE-EU-301-04) from the Bachelor in European Cultures.

The aim is to give students on these programmes, as well as the wider academic community at the 8xav�������� of Luxembourg, the opportunity to find out about the history and workings of the European institutions in Luxembourg from new and unconventional angles and to discuss some of the milestones in contemporary European history with people who were involved in or witnessed these events. Each session (in French or English, with a Q&A session in French and English) will be streamed via Webex and will include a presentation by a speaker followed by a discussion with the audience and the opportunity to ask questions.

The lectures, which are also open to the wider public, are run in conjunction with Europe Direct at the 8xav�������� of Luxembourg (ED-UNILU) – a competitive European public history project co-funded by the European Union (2021-2025) – and several other partners including: the (HAEU), the at the (EUI) (Florence, Italy), , (Warsaw, Poland), Embassy of Poland in Luxembourg, at the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) (Belgium), (RTI) (Belgium), the (CJUE) and the (EIB).

The conference will be held in English.

Short biography

Mr Wojciech Białożyt is an analyst and executive with a broad experience gained in Poland and on the EU level. In 2023/2024, he was Policy Leader Fellow at conceptualising the place of democracy in the European security architecture. He was also recipient of Visegrad Fund Research Grant at the , within which he researched on relations between the Polish Solidarity movement and the European institutions 1980-1989. Since 2019, he serves as Member of the Management Board of the Bronisław Geremek Foundation in Warsaw, a body named after Poland’s democracy architect and visionary European. He represents the Foundation in the .

Abstract

On 1 May 2004, with the accession of 10 candidate countries (Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia), the European Union (EU) not only marked the biggest enlargement in its history, but also opened up for the first time to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which had embarked on the transition to freedom, democracy and a market economy after long decades of communist and dictatorial regimes. On 26 April 2005, Bulgaria and Romania have also been included in this process. Exploring retrospectively 20 years of European integration through new archives and historical sources, this presentation will examine Poland’s experience in democratisation, Europeanisation and EU integration, and will particularly highlight the strategical thinking and political action and of Professor Bronisław Geremek, who has played a crucial role in this process.

Conference given in the framework of the 2024 edition of Winter (Online) Lecture Series on Europe.

_{Photo Mr Wojciech Białożyt © EUI Florence, 2024}