Welcome to the Project
Over the past few years, the European Union has been inching toward a very large expansion: in 2004, 10 countries joined the Union. This unprecedented enlargement has led to debate over the future of the Union and redefinition of its very structure. In parallel to all the political events leading to the actual EU enlargement, The Ashburn Institute and the University of North Virginia: Prague are working together to build a series of educational events titled “Redefining Europe” and aimed at reflecting on the issues arising from the expansion. Events will be held at the University of North Virginia campus in Prague and include a series of conferences on federalism in the EU, the opening of an Ashburn Institute office in Prague, the launching of a Masters degree in federalism, a series of conferences on the Community of Democracies by former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and the opening of a Vaclav Havel Library on Democracy.
The first event which launched the series was a conference held in March 2004 in Prague and throughout the world by means of video-conferencing on the topic of Federalism and the EU Constitution. Dialogues were started about how to influence the new, bigger democratic Europe as it moves to adopt a new Constitution of Europe. To the Ashburn Institute, one of the most important aspects of this constitution is the incorporation of federalist principles in the document. What principles? In what way? To what extent should state sovereignty be compromised? Prestigious scholars, diplomats and other high officials from both the EU and the candidate countries came to discuss these issues as well as EU-US relations from the federalist perspective. A parallel youth video conference also addressed the ever-expanding European Union through plenary sessions, workshops, and discussion sessions. Students were able to address attendees to the Prague conference from all over the world through video conferencing technology.
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