Fully funded Young Professionals Seminar organized by United Europe’s next Young Professionals Seminar will take place from October 12th and 13th, 2018, this time at Andrássy University in beautiful Budapest. In cooperation with Innogy, United Europe is inviting young talents between 18 and 35 years from all over Europe and from all professions to join their seminar on “EUROPE OF THE REGIONS”.

Torn  by migration and border issues, debates about further integration and European sovereignty, the European Union is facing multiple challenges these days. Those challenges are also driven by the question of identity. Separatist movements in Catalonia and Scotland underpin the political dimension of identity. A con-federal system giving regions broader competences looks appealing and seems to be a promising model. Figures show that regional engagement in Europe continues to grow at an exponential rate. Regions themselves continue to operate actively in Europe and occupy a central position in debates about past trends and possible futures of the EU. And the EU, for its part, is enhancing multilevel governance by working with the European Committee of the Regions.

Europe of the Regions is the name of a political concept designed to promote the regions in the EU member states and support their regional autonomy. This federalist approach is expected to lead to a more efficient regional administration with greater expertise and proximity to the citizens, a strengthening of the competitiveness and infrastructures of the regions and the implementation of the principles of subsidiarity.

In this Young Professionals Seminar, the discussion will be made on the history, impact, function, and future of European regions:

• What role are they playing and likely to play in the emerging governance structures of the EU?
• What impact do they have on the institutional future of Europe?
• What is the European Committee of the Regions doing, what impact does it have?
• What is the role of economic clusters in the network of European regions?
• What are the growth possibilities of European regions and their preconditions?
• What is fascinating for you about the work of European institutions – what do you think about the regional presence?
•  How would you tell your/a region’s historical background as an example of successful or unsuccessful regional politics in Europe? What are the chances of history repeating itself?

As a prework, applicants are required to write and submit a short text (1 – 2 DIN A4 pages/1.500 – 3.000 characters max) about one aspect of this topic: The history of the developing of the regions, the work and impact of institutions like European Committee of the Regions, the impact of regions on the EU legislation (and the consequences), successful or not successful examples of EU regions, and so on.