Organised by the Bulgarian European Community Studies Association (BECSA) 

Relevant Documents
Conference Concept Paper
     Conference Proceedings

Conference Rationale
The overall objective of this conference is to valorize transnational European research in the sphere of Social Sciences carried out under the Framework Programmes of the EU or in other formats. Following a bottom-up approach, its thematic field - European Integration - reflects demands coming from the Bulgarian research comunity expressed via a targeted questionnaire released in 2006.

The subject area is approached from two angles:
- How do major actors respond to EU integration?
- How do selected policies adapt to it?

Departing from these two questions forming the foci of the thematic blocs, the conference aims to embrace a vast number of specific inter-connected topics through the prism of "adaptation to Europe" / "EU impact". The organisers' choice has been guided by the imperative to upgrade and further enhance the results of trans-European research and to strengthen research networks across Europe working in the field of EU-oriented studies.

The conference will be one of the first academic events following Bulgaria's accession to the EU. Two thematic blocs will be covered by the conference agenda, as summarised below. Detailed information on the coverage of thermatic blocks and sub-blocks - aiming at presenting a borad and exhaustive formulation of the respective problematic - are described in the Sofia Conference Concept Paper.

The final design of each sub-block, taking into account feedback from speakers and discussants, will narrow down the focus and sharpen the debate on relevant topics.
 

• Sub-block I-A: Adaptation of institutional actors to integration in the enlarged Union

• Sub-block I-B: The citizen and the dynamics of European political representation

• Sub-block I-C: The evolving role of Civil Society in European governance

• Sub-block I-D: Towards a European public sphere

• Sub-block II-A: Adjustments in the EU's and Member States' Regional Policies

• Sub-block II-B: Challenges to Europeanisation in Foreign Policy and Security

• Sub-block II-C: Towards an "Internal Security Regime" in the enlarged Union