This episode of EuropeChats is a discussion on a crucial question for the EU in 2024: what will the next Strategic Agenda look like?.

Every five years, EU leaders agree on the EU's political priorities for the future. It is a collective effort led by the President of the European Council, where leaders discuss and decide together. It takes place in the context of the European Parliament elections and ahead of the appointment of each European Commission.

Given the way Belgium has chosen to structure its Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the first half of 2024, the 6 months immediately preceding the finalisation of the Strategic Agenda, such that its second half can be dedicated to supporting the formulation of that Agenda, TEPSA Secretary-General Jim Cloos speaks with Wouter Detavernier, who is the Deputy Directory-General for European Affairs and Coordination at the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Richard Youngs, Senior Fellow at Carnegie Europe and TEPSA Board Member, joins the discussion too, in order to give his expert insights as a researcher.

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EuropeChats is TEPSA’s talk show dedicated to answering your questions about the European Union. If you ever wondered what competences the EU has, what effects its policies have on your day-to-day life, and why the EU is so important, then this show will give you all the answers you need! Every episode we will be answering your questions about Europe and the EU.

Jim Cloos is TEPSA’s Secretary-General, and has spent a lifetime in the heart of Brussels. As the former Deputy Director General for General and Institutional Policy at the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, he was involved in European decision-making at every level. He had a key role in drafting the Maastricht Treaty during the Luxembourgish Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 1991, and has an intricate expertise on EU Affairs and the internal functioning of the European institutions. There is no-one better placed to answer any question about Europe that you might have.

Wouter Detavernier is Deputy Director-General for European Affairs and Coordination at the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Directorate General for Coordination and European Affairs is responsible for the preparation, definition, representation, management and follow-up of Belgium's European policy. With the ever closer integration of Europe and its growing role on the international scene, this mission of the DGE is becoming increasingly important.

Richard Youngs is a Senior Fellow in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, based at Carnegie Europe. He works on EU foreign policy and on issues of international democracy. Youngs is also a professor of international relations at the University of Warwick. Prior to joining Carnegie in July 2013, he was the director of the European think tank FRIDE. He has held positions in the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and as an EU Marie Curie fellow. He was a senior fellow at the Transatlantic Academy in Washington, DC, from 2012 to 2013.

Richard Youngs is also coordinator of the Recommendations from members of the TEPSA network to the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which featured heavily in this episode's discussion. To read the recommendations click here: https://tepsa.eu/recommendations-to-r...

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Music: Worakls, 22 September 2014, Salzburg, Hungry music

This video is co-funded by the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values programme of the European Union

Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.