[Session 3] Populism v. LIO: EU

Session: Session 3
Date/Time: April 25, 2018 / 10:45-12:15

Moderator:
Ali Aslan, TV Presenter & Journalist

Speakers:
Karel De Gucht, Free University of Brussels
Kim Joon Suk, Catholic University of Korea
Michael Reiterer, EU Delegation to the Republic of Korea
Philip Stephens, Financial Times

Panel Description
The 2016 Brexit referendum shook the European Union to its foundations and heralded the rise of the illiberal international order on the continent. But the causes of the UK’s decision to leave the EU were long in the making. Ever since the construction of the “Common Market” what eventually became the EU has struggled with a variety of social, economic, cultural and security challenges. An influx of refugees, high unemployment levels, and increasing lack of trust in the efficacy of the EU experiment has allowed populist leaders and far-right movements to reemerge in the core of what was once the epicenter of international liberalism. Can pro-EU leaders, such as Germany’s Angela Merkel and France’s Emmanuel Macron, restore confidence in the EU? What effect will Brexit have on the future of the EU? Can the EU be fixed?