The international scientific conference «Russia and the EU in a changing world: cooperation or competition»

November 2-3, 2017 RUDN University Faculty of Humanity and Social Sciences hosted the international scientific conference «Russia and the EU in a Changing World: Cooperation or Competition?»

Organizers of the event were RUDN University, The University of Potsdam (Germany, 461-470 QS World University Rankings by subject and 51-100 QS World University Rankings by subject Linguistics) and the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan (Poland, 151-200 QS World University Rankings by subject Archaeology). The conference was held in the framework of the RUDN University Competitiveness Enhancement Program “5-100“.

The international scientific conference «Russia and the EU in a changing world: cooperation or competition» included a plenary session, five thematic sections, and a panel (podium) discussion.

Representatives of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Business Association, the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Russia, the Eurasian Economic Commission, Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as partner universities - the University of Potsdam and the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan made their reports and participated in discussions within the framework of the plenary session on the theme: «Russia and the EU: in Search of a New Relationship Form», which was held on November 2.

The main speakers were the V.V. Maslennikov, Director of the Inter-European cooperation department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Stefan Kordash, Deputy Policy Department of the German Embassy in Russia, Anton Azarov, Deputy Head of the International Cooperation and Integration Development Department, Mirko Krupp, Head of the External Relations Department of the Association of European Businesses, as well as Semenenko I.S., Senior Researcher of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IMEMO) and senior fellow at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences Lunkin R.V. and also invited professors from the University of Potsdam Jochen Franzke and Professor Bogdan Koshel from the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan.

Also, leading scientists of European and Russian universities took part in the conference:

• Daniel Buck, Dr., Professor of Sciences Po Bordeaux (France);
• Kataryna Wolczuk, Dr., Professor of the University of Birmingham ( 84 QS World University Rankings);
• Rilka Dragneva-Lewers, prof. Dr., Professor, University of Birmingham (84 QS World University Rankings);
• Carolyn Dufy, Dr., Professor of Sciences Po Bordeaux;
• Thomas Melhausen, Dr., Associate Professor, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Potsdam / Free University of Berlin (FRG) (Germany, 461-470 QS World University Rankings by subject and 51-100 QS World University Rankings by subject Linguistics);
• Alessandra Rousseau, Dr., Professor of Sciences Po Bordeaux.

The international scientific conference «Russia and the European Union in a Changing World: Cooperation or Competition?» achieved the goals and objectives set by the organizers.

In particular, within the framework of the conference, the main goal was achieved: a comprehensive examination of the Russian-European dialogue at the present stage in the context of the global processes of the present, with a view to developing conceptual approaches and practical recommendations for enhancing the effectiveness of the Russian-European dialogue.

Also in the sections and reports of the conference were the following tasks:

• Analysis of the main trends in the development of the Russian-European dialogue;
• Analysis and assessment of the problems and prospects of the Russian-European dialogue;
• Development of theoretical approaches and practical recommendations for increasing the effectiveness of the Russian-European dialogue;
• Activation of contacts between the Russian and European expert community in order to create expert networking.

The conference revealed considerable interest in the analysis of the Russian-European dialogue both in Russia and the EU member states (Germany, France, Poland), allowed to discuss many topical issues of the relations between Russia and the EU, made it possible to identify the problem potential and outline ways to solve existing problems on the basis of practical recommendations for national and supranational authorities and management, and also contributed to the establishment of an expert community, which is extremely important not only in terms of further activities of similar problems, but also in the activation of joint research activities (organization and preparing joint publications, conferences, scientific projects).