Workshop: India and the European Union – Joining Forces on the Global Scene?
India and the European Union – a partnership with obstacles. Only in November 2019, German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated during her visit to New Delhi that both partners should stand up for a cooperative and multilateral international system. Yet, the negotiations for a free trade agreement have been dragging on for years. Can the emerging power from South Asia and the EU join forces on the global scene – and if so how and in which fields? An international experts’ workshop held at the University of Würzburg tackled these very questions.
Under the title “In the Light of the EU’s Global Strategy: India and the European Union – Joining Forces on the Global Scene?“, researchers debated the foundations, perspectives, and global ambitions of EU-India relations from November 20 to 22, 2019. International experts presented their work in several panels which revolved around the topics of climate policy, development cooperation, security, and economic relations.
On November 20, a public keynote lecture took place in the Würzburg Residence’s “Toscanasaal”. Dr Giovanni Grevi, Head of the Europe in the World Programme at European Policy Centre in Brussels, spoke on the matter of “Europe in the World. Strategic Autonomy and Partnership”.
In late 2020, an edited volume with the title "EU-India Relations – The Strategic Partnership in the Light of the European Union Global Strategy", edited by Philipp Gieg, Timo Lowinger, Manuel Pietzko, Anja Zürn, Ummu Salma Bava and Gisela Müller-Brandeck-Bocquet, will be published by Springer Nature Switzerland.
The workshop was organized by the Jean Monnet Chair at the Institute for Political Science and Sociology. Jean Monnet professor Gisela Müller-Brandeck-Bocquet and her team have been cooperating with Jean Monnet Professor Ummu Salma Bava (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi) for several years.
Their common research project “Foundations of the Indo-European Strategic Partnership” and the workshop are sponsored by the European Commission as part of their Jean Monnet activity, as well as by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
