Summer School on European Affairs

Russia's invasion of Ukraine is the latest milestone in the deterioration of the international order that emerged from World War II and was apparently consolidated after the Cold War. The emergence of revisionist international actors, the latent threat of international terrorism, the challenges arising from large migratory flows, or the new uncertainties derived from the rise of cyber-insecurity or global populisms are scenarios that jeopardize the European political project and pose multiple challenges both for its foreign policy and, above all, for its security and defense policy.

Just when new international alliances such as AUKUS emerge in Asia-Pacific – with the active participation of European actors – and at the moment of NATO's greatest relevance as the continent's security umbrella, the EU also seems to want to wake up from lethargy in the ambitious approach towards a common European security project. This is a panorama full of uncertainties in which national approaches collide with a Community approach that is still difficult to perceive. These uncertainties are underpinned by the volatility in the relations with Russia and other actors in our immediate environment such as Turkey, which make long-term projections difficult.

Faced with all these questions, the Summer School on European Affairs 2024 brings together specialists from the academia, top-level EU policy makers and political leaders from the Member States to answer some fundamental questions:

- What is the expected horizon of a more ambitious Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), and what are its constraints?
- What are the security challenges in the relationship between NATO and the EU?
- How and to what extent can the global (in)security scenario in which we live ultimately shape the future of the Union and its institutions?