As its citizens head to the polls in June’s European Parliament elections, the EU faces an unprecedented combination of external threats. From Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the war in Gaza to economic, energy, and military dependencies and the climate crisis, the scale of the challenges is such that the very existence of European integration is in peril.
To navigate these troubled waters, the incoming cohort of EU leaders will need to make bold decisions that bolster the union’s geopolitical power and render it a stronger global actor.

In this seventh and last ENGAGE high-level lecture, Dr. Steven Everts will delve into the ongoing normative contestation and assess the consequences of the changes in the global order for the European Union.

In this sixth ENGAGE high-level lecture, Comfort Ero will examine the multifaceted crisis of democracy across the continent and explore how it is reshaping the European Union’s policies towards Africa. She will also reflect on what this challenge means for the EU’s role in fostering democratic stability in a rapidly changing geopolitical context.

This ninth and final ENGAGE webinar will assess the effectiveness of the EU’s multifaceted strategies in addressing the conflict’s political, economic and diplomatic dimensions and its global repercussions.

This eighth ENGAGE webinar will explore the EU’s evolving space policy and the challenges of establishing an autonomous space strategy that advances Europe’s global ambitions.

This seventh ENGAGE webinar will unpack the complexities of the European Union’s engagement with the region, shedding light on recent developments and exploring how the union’s long-term strategic objectives balance commercial interests and security imperatives.

This sixth ENGAGE webinar will explore how transatlantic partners can navigate domestic developments and external shocks, and secure a cooperative future in spite of electoral uncertainty, different worldviews, and competing interests.

This fifth ENGAGE webinar will explore the complexities of the bloc’s trade policies and strategies in light of its foreign policy ambitions, internal pressures, and international contestation.

In this fifth ENGAGE high-level lecture, José Briceño Ruiz will unpack the obstacles to and opportunities for a renewed EU-Latin America partnership.

In this fourth ENGAGE high-level lecture, Lay Hwee Yeo explores the evolution of the EU’s engagement with Asia, the Union’s relations with ASEAN in the context of the rise of China, and the many challenges ahead.

The lack of a clear strategic vision for engagement with its Southern neighbours has hindered the European Union’s response to emerging crises in the region and prevented the bloc from becoming a more assertive global actor.

In this fourth webinar, Senem Aydın-Düzgit, Marc Pierini and Amberin Zaman discuss the implications of the elections for the EU and the MENA region.

In this third ENGAGE webinar, Christian Kremer, Yana Popkostova and Marie Vandendriessche examine how the European Union and its Member States can best deal with the challenges of energy security.

Our third ENGAGE high-level lecture in which Alexander Stubb explores the notion of power in today’s contested world and discusses how the EU can remain relevant.

In this second ENGAGE high-level lecture, Mary Kaldor will explore how recent events, such as the Russian war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic, have impacted human security in Europe and how they can shape the EU’s external action in the long term.

In this second ENGAGE webinar, in which Benjamin Martill, Alena Kudzko and Ester Sabatino will explore how the Russian war in Ukraine affects the Strategic Compass and whether it can give new momentum to European security and defence cooperation.

At this first ENGAGE webinar, Ana Hernández Sierra, Viktor Szép and Jan Wouters will discuss how the EU uses sanctions to respond to violations of international law and threats to European security.

ENGAGE’s first high-level lecture will feature Robert Cooper, who will shed light on EU diplomatic history between 2002 and 2012 and explain how lessons from Kosovo’s independence, the nuclear negotiations with Iran and Ukraine’s Orange Revolution can advance the quest for European strategic autonomy.

This virtual conference launched ENGAGE, a project that examines how the EU can effectively and sustainably meet strategic challenges by harnessing all of its tools to become a more assertive global actor.