State of the Union 2012: UK's European Policy in the Time of Crisis

Workshop

May 18, 2012, 10.30–14.00,
Principal building of the Faculty of Journalism and Political Studies, Lecture Hall No. 1
3 Krakowskie Przedmieście Str.

The workshop took place two years after the General Election of May 2010, and one year after the referendum on the electoral reform, as well as the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish assembly elections, and the English local elections, which determined the face of the national, regional and local politics in different parts of the United Kingdom, and was intended to summarise the state of British Politics in the mid of dynamic parliament, and the government coalition. There were a number of questions identified of key importance to the UK’s future. There were the future of the British Union in the face of the Scottish independence referendum; the future of the European Union in the face of the Eurozone crisis; and the UK’s European policy, as well as their consequences shaping current political discourse in Britain. Therefore, the 2012 annual Britannia workshop focused on the UK’s position in the face of the European Union, and on other major events setting this principal problem in a broader context.

To accomplish this task, the workshop was organised around two parts. In the first, there were two keynote speeches presented by two distinguished members of the British academia: Professor Simon Bulmer of the Department of Politics, University of Sheffield and Professor Tim Bale of the Sussex European Institute, University of Sussex, followed by an extensive session of questions and answers. The second part was organised around five speeches of young researchers of considerable achievements representing Universities of Prague, Warsaw, and Szczecin, followed by a master-class session of questions and answers by Professors Bulmer and Bale.

Workshop was held in English.

WORKSHOP AGENDA

10.30–10.45 Welcome Speech by Professor Janusz Adamowski, the Dean of the Faculty of Journalism and Political Science, University of Warsaw and by Professor Franciszek Gołembski, Chairman of BRITANNIA Research Group

• Dr Wojciech Lewandowski (Chair of European Studies, University of Warsaw): Presentation of activities of the Research Group BRITANNIA

10.40–13.20 Part 1: THE KEY-NOTE SPEECHES (Chaired by Dr Przemysław Biskup)

• Professor Simon Bulmer (Department of Politics, University of Sheffield): Semi-Detached but Sovereign? The UK Coalition Government, the EU and Multi-Level Governance.
• Professor Tim Bale (Sussex European Institute, University of Sussex): On the Way Out? The Party Politics of UK Membership of the European Union.

13.20–13.40 Lunch Break

13.40–15.00 Part 2: POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN BRITISH POLITICS IN THE SECOND YEAR OF THE COALITION GOVERNMENT (Chaired by Dr Wojciech Lewandowski)

• Mr. Jiři Koubek (Department of Political Science, Faculty of Philosophy and Arts, Charles University of Prague): ODS from Klaus to Nečas: British Inspirations as a Matter of Identity, Ideology and Image.
• Dr Przemysław Biskup (Chair of European Studies, University of Warsaw): The Coalition Government’s Agenda in the Light of the Queen’s Speech 2012.
• Dr Małgorzata Kaczorowska (Institute of Political Science, University of Warsaw): Two Years of the Coalition Government in the Light of the Local Elections 2012.
• Dr Krzysztof Winkler (Research Group BRITANNIA): Queen’s Diamond Jubilee as a Commonwealth Event.
• Dr Tomasz Czapiewski (Institute of Political Science and European Studies, University of Szczecin): Alex Salmond – Party Leader, First Minister.

15.00–15.05 Farewell Speech by Professor Franciszek Gołembski, Chairman of BRITANNIA Research Group.

For more information please see the Workshop Report.