What can you expect?
The Centre for European Studies within Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, is organizing the sixth EURINT edition, May 19-20, 2017. This edition will focus on the resilience capacity of the EU to react to the current economic and political challenges. The economic challenges are associated with the post-crisis recovery, while the political challenges stem from the rise of nationalism which has recently hit the EU.

What about the topic?
Today’s European Union (EU) is being confronted with both economic and political challenges. The economic challenges are associated with the post-crisis recovery, while the political challenges stem from the rise of nationalism which has recently hit the EU. Against this background, the Centre for European Studies within Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, is organizing the sixth edition of EURINT, which will focus on the resilience capacity of the EU to react to these challenges.
Resilience is a concept which has increasingly been used in the general public discourse, as well as within the EU debates in relation to economic development, but also to the security and defence issues. Moreover, various organizations and agencies, research institutes and experts in various areas are proposing resilience analyses as being the most appropriate alternative to replace other key concepts in designing the European and national policies. This is due to the resilience capacity to accommodate the multitude of factors and conditions that influence long-term growth and development in a systemic approach. After the recent economic crisis, most of the European countries did not manage to get back on the growth path, and they are still facing a sluggish growth. Understanding the factors that foster / undermine economic resilience is the key to a faster recovery.
Besides the economic issues, further challenges have emerged, testing the EU’s cohesion. The refugee crisis forced the EU to deal with huge refugee inflows escaping conflict in their country, which has generated internal concerns over how to deal best with resettling people. Soon after, the Brexit referendum has further challenged the EU’s internal stability and questioned the viability of the European project on the long-term.
Therefore, faced with the current economic crisis affecting the European economies, and considering the pitfalls of the overall integration process and its own legitimacy, the Union itself must become not only ’smarter’, more inclusive and more sustainable, but also more resilient, more capable of reacting to different internal and external shocks.

Who will take part in our academic event?
During the two consecutive days an exciting academic programme featuring renowned international experts and keynote lectures will be offered to our wide pool of participants: PhD candidates, post-doc fellows, researchers, civil society activists, NGO representatives, consultants, policy advocates and many more.

What kind of opportunities does this conference offer?
EURINT 2017 will share the latest academic research results, excellent networking opportunities, possibilities to create links for future cooperation between in the field of academic (preparing potential research projects, establishing common publishing goals, etc.). Moreover, a limited number of international participants could benefit from financial support.

What about social events?
The conference will be held at the “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iasi, Romania, the oldest institution of higher learning in Romania. EURINT 2017 will be a pleasant and useful experience both for its academic quality and informal social networking. You are warmly welcome to explore the historical centre of Iasi, its intense cultural life and events, and enjoy the beautiful May weather.