8 December

8.30-10.00

Registration

WELCOME

10.00-10.40

Gábor György, Head of European Commission Representation in Hungary

THE IMPACTS OF INTEGRATION OF THE NEW MEMBER STATES ON THE EUROPEAN UNION

Kinga Göncz, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hungary, patron of the conference

10.40-12.10

Members of the European Parliament

Katalin Lévai, Socialist Group

Vittorio Prodi, Alliance of Liberals and Democrats

György Schöpflin, European People’s Party

Tatjana Zdanoka, Greens/European Free Alliance

Chair: Zoltán Szalai, Head of EP Information Office

12.10-13.30

Lunch break

THE IMPACT OF ACCESSION ON SOCIETIES

13.30-15.00

Politicians’ point of view

Janez Potocnik, Member of the European Commission, Commissioner for Science and Research

Ludek Sefzig, Member of the Senate, Czech Republic

Aleksander Kwasniewski, Former President, Poland

Péter Kiss, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Hungary

Chair: Iván Lipovecz, journalist

15.00-15.30

Coffee break

15.30-17.00

Researchers’ point of view

Tibor Závecz, director, Szonda-Ipsos

Attila Ágh, researcher, Corvinus University

Jože Mencinger, economist, Slovenia

Agnieszka Bielska, Office of the Committee for European Integration, Poland

Chair: Tamás Szűcs, Director, DG Communication, European Commission

17.00

Reception

9 December

Parallel session 1.

THE IMPACT OF ACCESSION ON ECONOMY

 9.30-11.00

Investments in the region

István Szini, National Executive, GE Hungary

Sten Tamkivi, Head of Operations, Skype

György Rétfalvi, CEO, International Trade Development Hungary

Laza Kekic, Regional Director, Economist Intelligence Unit

Chair: András Inotai, Director, Institute for World Economics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

11.00-11.30

Coffee break

11.30-13.00

Converging economies

Marco Buti, Deputy Director-General, DG Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission

Péter Heil, Vice-President, National Development Agency, Hungary

Ivan Pilip, Vice-President, European Investment Bank

Mihály Varga, Former Finance Minister, Hungary

Chair: Györgyi Kocsis, journalist

Parallel session 2.

THE IMPACT OF ACCESSION ON POLITICAL INTEGRATION

9.30-11.00

New alliances

Csaba Zalai, Head of department for EU coordination and legal affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hungary

Béla Galgóczi, European Trade Union Confederation

Csaba Tabajdi, MEP

Tomaz Stebe, Member of the Committee of the Regions

Chair: Jürgen Köppen, Former Head of Representation

11.00-11.30

Coffee break

11.30-13.00

Future challenges

Ricardo Pascual Bremon, Head of unit, DG Enlargement, European Commission

Gabriela Konevska, Deputy Prime Minsiter for European Integration, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Vladimir Drobnjak, Chief Negotiator of Croatia to the EU

Emil Constantinescu, Former President, Romania

Chair: Mátyás Eörsi, MP, Hungary

13.00-13.30

Conclusions

László Kovács, Member of the European Commission, Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union

13.00-14.30

Lunch