V4+France Parliamentary Colloquium on the Future of Europe, Paris, 25 November 2021


In the context of the Hungarian V4 Presidency, on 25 November 2021, the Embassy of Hungary in Paris organised an inter-parliamentary colloquium on the future of Europe, with the participation of national Members of Parliament from the V4 countries and France. At this face-to-face event, the Hungarian Parliament was represented by dr. Hajnalka Juhász, member of the Committee on European Affairs, and dr. László Szakács, member of the Committee on Economics. The colloquium was hosted by György Habsburg, ambassador, and was moderated by Gergely Fejérdi, Deputy Director of the Otto von Habsburg Foundation and senior research associate of the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade (Hungary). The participants included Jean-François Rapin from the Upper House of the French Parliament, chairman of the Committee on European Affairs of the Senat, Claude Kern, vice chairman of the Committee on European Affairs, chairman of the French Hungarian Friendship Group, whereas the delegation of the Lower House was led by Sabine Thillaye, chairwoman of the Committee on European Affairs of the National Assembly; other persons attending the colloquium on behalf of the National Assembly included Constance Le Grip, member of the Committee on European Affairs, Marie-Christine Dalloz, chairwoman of the Czech Friendship Group, and Xavier Batut, chairman of the Slovak Friendship Group. The Polish Sejm was represented by Kacper Płażyński, chairman of the Subcommittee of the Conference on the Future of Europe whereas the Slovak National Council was represented by Juraj Krúpa, chairman of the Committee on Defence and Security and chairman of the Slovak-French Friendship Group, Ľudovít Goga, member of the Committee on European Affairs, and Jana Žitňanská, member of the Committee on Social Affairs and of the Slovak French Friendship Group. On behalf of the Czech Republic, no Member of Parliament was present because of the elections held at the end of October, but a diplomat from the Embassy attended the event. When presenting the issues raised at the event, György Habsburg emphasised in connection with the future of Europe: “Europe will be strong if it is made up of strong countries. In order to increase its global competitiveness, Europe should be proactive instead of being reactive, to which Hungary and the V4 Group should contribute overtly, by pursuing a dialogue, and promoting this direct dialogue is the main purpose of this event,” added the ambassador in his welcome speech.


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