At the seminar jointly organized by the Iratzar and Coppieters foundations, we will discuss territorial conflicts between the European institutions and local civil society on 7 November in Brussels.

This seminar aims to discuss the interaction between European Institutions and local civil society in cases of territorial conflicts.  The experience of the Irish process and the complex but creative implementation of the Irish Good Friday Agreement have highlighted this relationship. At the same time, the Irish case may be used to envisage different scenarios in other existing lasting conflicts.

In this sense, the case of Cyprus is very interesting, because of its attempts to implement and showcase innovative methodologies that break the classic limits of conflict resolution. The link between the involvement of the European Union and the impact of the post-Annan plan on communities is worthy of mention and study.

Do you want to join? Please fill this registration form before the 31st of October.

Program

7 November

18:00 - 18:10  Welcoming words Coppieters Foundation & Iratzar Fundazioa

18:10 - 19:00

POLITICAL RESPONSES TO TERRRITORIAL CONFLICTS IN THE EU

• Colin Harvey, Professor of Human Rights Law in the School of Law, Queen’s University Belfast, Fellow of the Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice, and Associate Fellow of the Institute of Irish Studies.
• Nikos Skoutaris, Associate Professor in EU Law at the University of East Anglia. Bachelor of Laws from the University of Aberdeen, Master of Laws from Maastricht University, PhD from the European University Institute (Firenze).

Conversation and comparison between the current status of the EU’s involvement in Northern Ireland and Cyprus, focusing on the special status held by the Irish border and the Green Line in Cyprus in EU law. The session will focus on the impact of the current programs and dynamics, as well as opportunities ahead under the new cross-border in Northern Ireland and Cyprus.

Lead panelist: Umut Bozkurt, associate professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations, Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU), Cyprus.

19:00 - 19:50

POST AGREEMENT TIME: Hardship and opportunities for local communities

• Maeve McLaughlin, Director of the Bloody Sunday Trust, community-based organisation established in Derry in 1996 to assist the Bloody Sunday families in their quest for truth and justice and to create a proper legacy for Bloody Sunday and the Civil Rights era.
• Maria Hadjipavlou, associate professor at the Department of Social and Political Sciences, University of Cyprus. She teaches Comparative Politics, Gender Studies, Conflict Resolution, International Peace and Security, and the Cyprus Conflict from a multi-disciplinary perspective. As a scholar practitioner she has facilitated and designed numerous conflict resolution workshops among different social groups from the Cypriot communities.

In this second round table the focus will be on civil society, in two main aspects:

1. The influence of EU involvement in the development of coexistence between communities (aid, funds, plans, involvement of cultural and economic projects).
2. The influence of communities on the positive development of  conflicts. It is possible to speak of a common identity in both Ireland and Cyprus. Which elements are considered decisive for this to happen?

Lead panelist: Frank Connolly, investigative journalist whose work on political and police corruption contributed to the establishment of two judicial inquiries, the Flood/Mahon and the Morris Tribunals. Head of Communications at SIPTU, Ireland’s largest trade union.

Practicalities:

When: Tuesday 7 November 2023 at 18:00

Where: L42 business center & workspaces. Rue de la Loi 42 wetstraat, 1000 Brussels.

The conference will be in English!