Date: Friday 29 January 2010, 5pm-6.45pm

Venue: Committee Room 1, Scottish Parliament, Palace of Holyrood House, Edinburgh EH99 1SP

Speakers:

• Catherine Stihler MEP, Labour
• Struan Stevenson MEP, Conservative
• Christopher Harvie MSP, SNP
• Elspeth Attwooll, former Liberal Democrat MEP
• Professor Jo Shaw, Salvesen Chair of European Institutions, University of Edinburgh

Chair: George Foulkes MSP

The Foreign Policy Centre and the European Commission Representation in the UK are delighted to be holding a 'Reconnecting the European Parliament and its People' event in Edinburgh. The event, part of a series of four seminars being held across the UK, will examine public awareness and attitudes towards the European Parliament, assess the problems that it faces and explore some possible solutions.

To RSVP, please email: events[at]fpc.org.uk

Survey

Information for visitors to the Scottish Parliament

• PDF file

Download Edinburgh invitation (150 kilobyte PDF; need help viewing PDFs?)

Date: Tuesday February 2nd, 6pm-7.45pm

Venue: Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Room, Houses of Parliament.

2010 is a vitally important year for Kazakhstan and for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). For the first time a Central Asian nation has taken the leadership role of a major international political organisation, but Kazakhstan is also be the first non-democracy to become the OSCE's Chairman-in-Office. Kazakhstan is under the international

spotlight to an extent it has not seen since independence. In light of this the FPC is hosting a major Westminster Seminar, supported by the Civil Activity Fund, to discuss Kazakhstan's OSCE Chairmanship, the current human rights and political situation in the country and the role the international community can play to support reform in the country. The event is free and open to all.

Speakers include:

• Chris Bryant MP, Minister for Europe
• Iva Dobichina, Director of Central Asia Programmes, Freedom House
• Bakhytzhan Ketabayev, Head of K+ Satellite TV Channel, and member of the Civil Activity Fund
• Vera Tkachenko, Director, Legal Policy Research Centre
• Mike Gapes MP, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee (Chair)

To RSVP or to find out further information, please email: events[at]fpc.org.uk

Download Kazakhstan at a Crossroads Event: 6pm February 2nd (140 kilobyte PDF; need help viewing PDFs?)

Friday 26th March 2010, Birmingham

Speakers:

• Michael Cashman MEP, Labour
• Adam Marshall, Director of Policy and External Affairs, British Chambers of Commerce
• Further Speakers (tbc)

Chair: tbc

To RSVP, please email: events[at]fpc.org.uk

Download the report (160 kilobyte PDF; need help viewing PDFs?)

By Adam Hug. Source: BN (Business Network) Magazine

(First published in BN Magazine http://www.bnmagazine.co.uk)

Joining the EU can be a tricky business, even if you are not a large and Islamic country straddling the continent's old geographic divide. Brussels is at serious risk of getting mud on the red carpet it rolled out to welcome Iceland, the once fiercely independent banking black hole, into the club, as President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson jeopardized the country's repayment deal with the UK and Netherlands over the collapse of the Icesave bank by putting it to a public vote in February. With the public less fearful of total economic collapse, the need to appease European member states seems less pressing, with polls showing that voters are likely to reject the deal and are not currently sold on joining the EU, if even if they are happy for negotiations to proceed.

Full text 

By Adam Hug. Source: E!Sharp

The EU has the tools to nurture democracy in Tbilisi, argues Adam Hug, FPC Policy Director, in an article for E!Sharp: http://www.esharp.eu/Web-specials/Keeping-Georgia-on-Europe-s-mind

Full text 

By Marc Herzog.

New FPC Associate Mark Herzog gives an FPC briefing on the influence of Turkey's new Foreign Minister, Professor Ahmet Davutoðlu. The briefing looks at his influence behind the scenes in developing a new perspective for Turkish foreign policy based on his idea of Strategic Depth. Herzog examines Turkey's increasingly active role in the Middle East in addition to the development of long standing ties to Central Asia that he believes will help rather than hinder Turkey's long-term relationship with the EU.

Download Turkey's new Foreign Minister (160 kilobyte PDF; need help viewing PDFs?)

Adam Hug (Ed.)

£4.95, plus £1 p+p.

Download Spotlight on Georgia pamphlet (3.71 megabyte PDF; need help viewing PDFs?)

The FPC's Spotlight on Georgia pamphlet examines the growing human rights and governance challenges facing Georgia. It highlights increasing concerns both, internal and international, about Georgian rule of law, media freedom, policing and electoral processes. The pamphlet recommends how Georgia must reform and what the international community should do to support it.

Spotlight on Georgia was edited by Adam Hug, FPC Policy Director. It contains contributions from authors including: Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner; EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby; the Deputy Public Defender of Georgia Giorgi Chekheidze; former UK Foreign Secretary Rt Hon Sir Malcolm Rifkind MP; Chair of the UK's Georgian All Party Parliamentary Group Bruce George MP; former US Ambassador to the USSR Ambassador Arthur Hartman; Author and Conciliation Resources Associate Thomas de Waal; former OSCE Policing Advisor Marco Kubny; Elsa Vidal from Reporters Without Borders; Giorgi Gogia from Human Rights Watch; and Dr Hans Gutbrod from the Caucasus Research Resource Centres.

Adam Hug (Ed.)

£4.95, plus £1 p+p.

Download the pamphlet (1.36 megabyte PDF; need help viewing PDFs?)

This FPC pamphlet supported by Business for New Europe makes the economic and business case for Turkish membership of the European Union and outlines the political challenges faced by both sides in making accession a reality.

Edited by Adam Hug, it contains contributions from: Rt Hon David Miliband MP, Rt Hon William Hague MP, Commissioner Olli Rehn, Roland Rudd (Chairman, Business for New Europe) Dr Mehmet Ugur (University of Greenwich), Prof Refik Erzan (Bogazici University), Dr Bahadir Kaleagasi (TUSIAD, the Turkish business association), Sir Julian Horn Smith, (UK Co-Chair, Turkish British Business Council) and Dr Gareth Winrow (formerly of Istanbul Bilgi University).

Dan Plesch, Greg Austin, Fiona Grant, Stephen Sullivan

March 2006 £9.95, plus £1 p+p.

Download Bio-Energy and CAP Reform (270 kilobyte PDF; need help viewing PDFs?)

Britain is falling behind on all of its climate change and renewable energy targets, even as scientific opinion grows ever more alarmed at the rate of global warming. There is a growing need for urgent and comprehensive action. The government will publish an energy policy review in mid-2005. It cannot be allowed a 'business as usual' approach or a continuation of gradual adjustments. This pamphlet will provide a close look at one area where a radical new approach can produce speedy results.

Further information 

Date: Friday 29 January 2010, 5pm-6.45pm

Venue: Committee Room 1, Scottish Parliament, Palace of Holyrood House, Edinburgh EH99 1SP

Speakers:

• Catherine Stihler MEP, Labour
• Struan Stevenson MEP, Conservative
• Christopher Harvie MSP, SNP
• Elspeth Attwooll, former Liberal Democrat MEP
• Professor Jo Shaw, Salvesen Chair of European Institutions, University of Edinburgh

Chair: George Foulkes MSP

The Foreign Policy Centre and the European Commission Representation in the UK are delighted to be holding a 'Reconnecting the European Parliament and its People' event in Edinburgh. The event, part of a series of four seminars being held across the UK, will examine public awareness and attitudes towards the European Parliament, assess the problems that it faces and explore some possible solutions.

To RSVP, please email: events[at]fpc.org.uk

Survey

Information for visitors to the Scottish Parliament

• PDF file

Download Edinburgh invitation (150 kilobyte PDF; need help viewing PDFs?)

Date: Tuesday February 2nd, 6pm-7.45pm

Venue: Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Room, Houses of Parliament.

2010 is a vitally important year for Kazakhstan and for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). For the first time a Central Asian nation has taken the leadership role of a major international political organisation, but Kazakhstan is also be the first non-democracy to become the OSCE's Chairman-in-Office. Kazakhstan is under the international

spotlight to an extent it has not seen since independence. In light of this the FPC is hosting a major Westminster Seminar, supported by the Civil Activity Fund, to discuss Kazakhstan's OSCE Chairmanship, the current human rights and political situation in the country and the role the international community can play to support reform in the country. The event is free and open to all.

Speakers include:

• Chris Bryant MP, Minister for Europe
• Iva Dobichina, Director of Central Asia Programmes, Freedom House
• Bakhytzhan Ketabayev, Head of K+ Satellite TV Channel, and member of the Civil Activity Fund
• Vera Tkachenko, Director, Legal Policy Research Centre
• Mike Gapes MP, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee (Chair)

To RSVP or to find out further information, please email: events[at]fpc.org.uk

Download Kazakhstan at a Crossroads Event: 6pm February 2nd (140 kilobyte PDF; need help viewing PDFs?)

Friday 26th March 2010, Birmingham

Speakers:

• Michael Cashman MEP, Labour
• Adam Marshall, Director of Policy and External Affairs, British Chambers of Commerce
• Further Speakers (tbc)

Chair: tbc

To RSVP, please email: events[at]fpc.org.uk

Download the report (160 kilobyte PDF; need help viewing PDFs?)