ADDRESSES

  GREETING ADDRESS 7

  GREETING ADDRESS 9

1. Panel

RISKS AND PROSPECTS FOR EUROPE - The European Union between Polycrisis and Political Maturity

  CURRENT GEOPOLITICAL RISKS AS CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR EUROPEAN UNITY 13

  THE EUROPEAN UNION: FROM FIVE STAGES OF INSTITUTIONAL GRIEF TO POLITICAL MATURITY? 20

  FROM INTERDEPENDENCE TO RESILIENCE: THE EVOLUTION OF EUROPEAN STRATEGIC AUTONOMY 35

2. Panel

RISKS AND PROSPECTS FOR EUROPE -- EU Economic Governance and Strategic Resilience

  THE DIGITAL EURO AS A STRATEGIC RESPONSE TO GLOBAL AND EU CHALLENGES 51

  THE EU’S RISKY EXPANSIONARY AUSTERITY POLICY STRATEGY 62

  FROM STABILITY TO PREPAREDNESS: TRANSFORMING THE EU BUDGET IN AN AGE OF PERMANENT CRISIS 75

  THE ECONOMIC ROLE OF EU-INDIA TRADE RELATIONS IN EUROPE’S POST-CRISIS RECOVERY 90

3. Panel RISKS AND PROSPECTS FOR EUROPE -- Security, Defence and Democratic Resilience

  CONSTRUCTIVE AMBIGUITY AS INSTITUTIONAL DESIGN: ARTICLE 42(7) TEU AND THE LIMITS OF EU MUTUAL DEFENCE 101

  THE CENTRE-RIGHT AND THE DEFENCE OF DEMOCRACY 115

  EUROPEAN DEFENSE À` LA CARTE: DO WE NEED RUSSIA BACK? 124

4. Panel

EU’S EVOLVING DIGITAL GOVERNANCE, DISINFORMATION AND DEMOCRATIC RESILIENCE IN THE EU

  EU AND DEFENCE OF DEMOCRACY IN THE DIGITAL AGE: WHY EUROPE NEEDS A NEW DEMOCRATIC NARRATIVE 135

  COUNTERING MISINFORMATION WITHOUT CONTENT CONTROL: CONSTITUTIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE CONDITIONS OF DEMOCRACY 150

  DEMOCRATIC RESILIENCE AS THE EUROPEAN UNION’S STRATEGIC RESPONSE TO GLOBAL POWER RIVALRY IN THE 21ST CENTURY 162

  EU DATA PROTECTION AND AI REGULATION: CONSIDERING A SHIFT IN THE APPROACH TO INNOVATION AND FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS 176

5. Panel

EUROPEAN VALUES, SOCIETY, EDUCATION AND CULTURE INVESTIGATING THE FRAMING OF EU

  INTEGRATION IN THE 2024 - 2025 STUDENT PROTESTS IN SERBIA: THE CHALLENGES OF EMPIRICAL RESEARCH 189

  CIVIL SOCIETY AND THE PROTECTION OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS IN THE EU AI ACT 200

  THE TRANSFORM4EUROPE EXPERIENCE: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN CROSS-BORDER MICROCREDENTIALING 211

  CULTURE COMPASS FOR EUROPE: THE ROLE OF CULTURE IN SHAPING THE EU’S FUTURE 220

6. Panel

EU ENLARGMENT AND NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICIES - EU Conditionality and the Transformation of Candidate States

  EU ENLARGEMENT BETWEEN LAW AND CONDITIONALITY: LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE EU ENLARGEMENT POLICY 231

  BETWEEN FORMAL COMPLIANCE AND SUBSTANTIVE TRANSFORMATION: EVIDENCE OF A REPETITION TRAP IN EU CONDITIONALITY 243

  REFORMING THE STATE, TRANSFORMING THE ECONOMY: POLITICAL -- ECONOMIC CRITERIA INTERDEPENDENCE UNDER EU CONDITIONALITY 254

7. Panel

EU ENLARGMENT AND NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICIES - National and Regional Case Studies

  “EUROPEANISATION” IN BULGARIAN ACADEMIC LITERATURE: 1993 - 2024 267

  TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY IN THE WESTERN BALKANS IN TIMES OF RUSSIAN AND AMERICAN NEO-IMPERIALISM 278

  SHALLOW EUROPEANIZATION AND THE DOMESTIC LIMITS OF EU FUND ABSORPTION: SERBIA’S IPARD EXPERIENCE 292