IIEA Talks

Following the adoption of the Enlargement Package Report by the European Commission, Lawrence Meredith, Director of Neighbourhood East and Institution Building in DG NEAR, discusses the main conclusions and the next steps, looking at the challenges and opportunities both for the enlargement countries involved and for the EU Member States. About the Speaker: Mr Meredith has been Director for Neighbourhood East and Institution Building in DG NEAR in the European Commission since December 2015. In 2015, he was Head of Strategy in DG NEAR, and led work on the European Neighbourhood Policy Review. Previously, he worked for 10 years on Enlargement Policy, both as Head of Strategy and Head of the Kosovo Issues Unit. He worked in the Cabinet of Commissioner Louis Michel on Southern Africa and the Pacific. Mr Meredith studied Russian & French at Oxford University.

Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, EU enlargement has regained pertinence. With eight candidate countries and two applicant countries, many have noted the need for reforms in how the EU operates before there can be a 37 Member State Union. In her address to the IIEA, Jessika Roswall, Minister for EU Affairs of Sweden, gives a timely survey of the Swedish government’s view on the topics of EU enlargement and the future of the EU. About the Speaker: Jessika Roswall is the incumbent Minister of EU Affairs and Nordic Cooperation, having held that role since 2022. She has been a member of the Riksdag (the Swedish Parliament) since 2010. Prior to her current ministerial role, Ms Roswall was Chair of the Moderate Party in Uppsala County. She also served as a member of the advisory councils of the Swedish Agency for Work Environment Expertise, the Uppsala County Administrative Board, and the Swedish Consumer Agency. Prior to entering politics, Ms Roswall was a practising lawyer for many years.

In recent years, the world has been beset by a series of interlinked challenges, including humanitarian crises, mounting global debt, and the impact of the nexus of climate change, conflict, and hunger. Simultaneously, the imperative of addressing the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires a shared sense of responsibility. In his address to the IIEA, Carsten Staur will discuss the need for balancing urgent needs against long-term development priorities, and will offer his reflections on the role of the DAC in navigating an evolving development cooperation landscape. About the Speaker: Carsten Staur is the Chair of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC). Prior to taking up this role in March 2023, he was Denmark’s Ambassador to the OECD and UNESCO in Paris from 2018 to 2023. During a career of more than forty years in international diplomacy and development, Ambassador Staur has served as Permanent Representative of Denmark to the United Nations in Geneva from 2013 to 2018 and New York from 2007 to 2013, and as State Secretary for International Development Cooperation from 2001 to 2007. He has also been Director for Development Policy and Planning in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador of Denmark to Israel, Under Secretary for Administrative Affairs, and Under Secretary for Bilateral Development Cooperation. Among many other achievements, Ambassador Staur has co-facilitated negotiations on the outcome of the UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals in 2010 as well as of the UN High-Level Meeting on the Rule of Law in 2012. He holds a degree in History and Literature from the University of Copenhagen and has written extensively about globalisation, multilateral affairs, and the United Nations, as well as about Danish foreign and development policy.

In the first half of 2024, Ireland will assume the rotating chair of the D9+ (or ‘Digital Nine+) - a group of digitally advanced European states which are at the forefront of Europe’s digital economy. In this IIEA event, which is supported by Amazon, an expert panel of speakers assesses what Ireland’s presidency of the group could contribute to the D9+’s long-term development; how the D9+ can link in with the priorities of the Presidencies of the Council of the EU; and how this group of digital frontrunners can contribute positively to EU digital policymaking in the coming years. The event opens with a keynote address by Dara Calleary TD, Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation. A panel discussion follows, featuring contributions from: Alberto Gago Fernandez, Advisor to the Secretary of State for Digital and AI of Spain; Lucinda Creighton, CEO of Vulcan Consulting and former Minister of State for Europe; Alexander Hoefmans, Deputy Chief of Staff to the Secretary of State for Digitization, Belgium, whose country will take the Presidency of the Council of the EU for the first half of 2024. This event is chaired by Dan O’Brien, IIEA Chief Economist.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the most hyped and most important technology of the century to date. Over the past decade there has been an endless series of breathless announcements about advances in AI – and attendant fears. In his address, Professor Michael Wooldridge assesses the nature of this technology, distinguish between hype and reality, and explore the implications of AI for society. He also discusses the risks posed by AI and how they should be addressed. About the Speaker: Michael Wooldridge is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Oxford, and a programme director for AI at the Alan Turing Institute. He has been an AI researcher for more than 30 years and has published more than 400 scientific articles on the subject, including nine books. From 2014-16, he was President of the European Association for AI, and from 2015-17 he was President of the International Joint Conference on AI (IJCAI).

Ditte Juul Jørgensen has been the European Commission’s Director-General for Energy since 2019. In the intervening years, Europe has witnessed a pandemic, a war, and a panoply of economic and social crises, but the EU has nonetheless introduced its most far-reaching measures in the field of energy. This includes the introduction of the EU’s Fit for 55 package - its plan for a green transition, the RePowerEU plan for saving energy, and more. In the fifth event of the 2023 REthink Energy series, co-organised by the IIEA and ESB, Ditte Juul Jørgensen reflects on these major initiatives and what might lay ahead for the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy. About the Speaker: Ms Ditte Juul Jørgensen became the Director-General for Energy at the European Commission on 1 August 2019. In this capacity, she leads the Directorate-General and its efforts to ensure access to affordable, secure, reliable, and clean energy for all Europeans; to promote efficient production and use of energy; and to drive the process of becoming the first climate-neutral continent whilst contributing to Europe’s sustainable growth and job creation. Before assuming this role, Ms Juul Jørgensen served in a wide variety of roles at the Commission, including Head of Cabinet for Commissioner Margrethe Vestager. She also held Head of Unit and Director positions in the Directorate-General for Trade.

In her address, SDLP MP Claire Hanna reflects on the prospects of achieving reconciliation through a New Ireland. About the Speaker: Claire Hanna is an SDLP Member of Parliament for South Belfast, elected in December 2019. Claire has been representing South Belfast since 2011 as a Belfast City Councillor, then as an MLA in the NI Assembly until her election to Parliament in 2019. She chaired Assembly All Party Groups on International Development and the Arts. In Westminster, Claire serves as a member on the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee. She is the SDLP's Spokesperson for Europe and International Affairs. In 2021 she was elected Chair of the Performer’s Alliance APPG (All-party Parliamentary Group). Her professional background is in international development, latterly in a policy and education role.

In his address to the IIEA, Professor Chris Llewellyn Smith discusses the need to complement wind and solar-generated electricity with the ability to store such electricity. He argues that as many countries replace fossil fuels with electricity generated from wind and solar, the volatility of these sources of energy will require storage solutions to be developed to meet a variable demand. Finally, his remarks explore the potential options available to various countries to meet these storage requirements. About the speaker: Chris Llewellyn Smith, who is a theoretical physicist, is currently interested in all aspects of energy supply and demand, especially electricity storage. He led the recently launched study by the Royal Society on Large-Scale Energy Storage. Chris has, inter alia, served as Director of Energy Research, University of Oxford (2011-17); President of the Council of Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (2008-17); and Director General of CERN (1994-1998), when the Large Hadron Collider was approved and construction started. He has written and spoken widely on science funding, international scientific collaboration and energy issues, and served on many advisory bodies nationally and internationally, including the UK Prime Minister’s Advisory Council on Science and Technology (1989-92). Professor Llewellyn Smith’s contributions to theoretical particle physics and leadership have been recognised by awards and honours worldwide, including election to the Royal Society (1984), which awarded him a Royal Medal in 2015.

Europe is facing numerous challenges, from the changing global geo-economic conditions to the enormity of tackling the climate crisis. Trade unions have, since their inception during the industrial revolution, sought to shape policy in times of tumult to ensure that the interests of workers are secured. In her address to the IIEA, Esther Lynch, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, discusses her views on how European green industrial policy can shape Europe’s success, the state of play of EU social dialogue, and how reaching the EU target of 80 per cent of workers covered by a collective agreement can lead to successful outcomes for all. About the Speaker: Esther Lynch is the General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation. Previously, Ms Lynch was Deputy General Secretary at the ETUC from 2019 to 2022, following four years as Confederal Secretary. She led on social dialogue, collective bargaining and wage policy, trade union rights, gender equality. Ms Lynch has extensive trade union experience at Irish, European and international levels, starting with her election as a shop steward in the 1980s. Before coming to the ETUC, she was the Legislation and Social Affairs Officer with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), where she took part in negotiations on Ireland’s National Social Partner Agreements.

This event is the third and final instalment in the Ireland and the EU Health Union discussion series, which is supported by Janssen Sciences Ireland. This event focuses on the role of the EU in promoting better cancer care and outcomes across the Union, through various initiatives contained within the EU’s Beating Cancer Plan. As part of the new Health Union, the EU has identified cancer as a health priority. The EU is pursuing a number of major initiatives to improve care and reduce inequalities across the Union in areas such as medicines access, pharmaceutical legislation, genetic testing and diagnosis, and data sharing and research. In this session, experts, clinicians and patient representatives discuss the EU’s efforts to achieve these objectives and assess the EU’s Beating Cancer Plan. This panel also considers how Ireland compares to our European peers both in terms of levels of care and outcomes, and what lessons we can learn to improve care for Irish cancer patients. The panel for this event consists of: Senator Annie Hoey Averil Power, CEO of the Irish Cancer Society Barry Andrews, Member of the European Parliament Professor Ray McDermott, Consultant Medical Oncologist Dr Thorsten Giesecke, General Manager, Commercial Business, Janssen Sciences Ireland