Global governance, multilateralism and the rules-based international order are under pressure. The European Union faces an international landscape in flux, dominated by global competition, technological changes, shifting norms and new security threats.

In this fractured environment, debates around qualified majority decision-making in European foreign policy, the “language of power” and joint European defence projects suggest the Union seeks an external action that is both more coherent and more effective. And yet, the EU’s global ambitions are often curtailed by structural weaknesses, legal and institutional limitations and diverging member states’ interests.

At this crucial juncture, where the EU must confront these internal and external challenges, the H2020 Project ENGAGE (Envisioning a New Governance Architecture for a Global Europe) kicks off its research programme by asking the big questions: What major global challenges does the European Union face? Where do European interests lie? Should the EU shape global governance? If so, how can it best overcome internal challenges and tackle global issues?

Join us for the virtual ENGAGE Kick-Off Conference on June 16, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. CEST, featuring Dr. Josep Borrell Fontelles, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, and Dr. Javier Solana, former High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, former Secretary General of NATO. In addition to two panel discussions, in which the ENGAGE research team will explore short- and long-term security challenges and discuss how to achieve a truly joint European security and defence, we are delighted to welcome Dr. Rosa Balfour, director of Carnegie Europe, who will give the keynote lecture. Prof. Dr. Angel Saz, director of the Esade Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics, and Prof. Dr. Jan Wouters, director of the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies will provide opening remarks.

Julia Kreienkamp (University College London) and Tom Pegram (University College London) present their book (co-authored with David Coen) "Global Climate Governance" (Cambridge 2020). Moderator: Kari Otteburn.

About the book: Climate change is one of the most daunting global policy challenges facing the international community in the 21st century. This Element takes stock of the current state of the global climate change regime, illuminating scope for policymaking and mobilizing collective action through networked governance at all scales, from the sub-national to the highest global level of political assembly. It provides an unusually comprehensive snapshot of policymaking within the regime created by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), bolstered by the 2015 Paris Agreement, as well as novel insight into how other formal and informal intergovernmental organizations relate to this regime, including a sophisticated EU policymaking and delivery apparatus, already dedicated to tackling climate change at the regional level. It further locates a highly diverse and numerous non-state actor constituency, from market actors to NGOs to city governors, all of whom have a crucial role to play.

In barely a year, Covid-19 has transformed from a localized outbreak to a global pandemic and, in the process, dramatically altered the existence of individuals, nations and the international community. As we mark the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization designating Covid-19 as a global pandemic, it is imperative to reflect on the role of global governance in addressing current and emerging challenges to the international community, international law and policy.

In this context, the Center for Global Governance and Emerging Law’s Global Governance and Emerging Law Trends & Book Launch conference will examine the many aspects of these trends in the legal and regulatory spheres. The conference will also serve as the official book launch for Prof. Dr. Alexandra R. Harrington’s new book, International Law and Global Governance: Treaty Regimes and Sustainable Development Goals Implementation. The goal of the conference is to assemble diverse voices from across disciplines to take stock of the impacts of the pandemic on global governance and how this will parallel future challenges for global governance in the legal and regulatory spheres.

Augusto Lopez-Claros joins the GLOBE Webinar Series to discuss his new book "Global Governance and the Emergence of Global Institutions for the 21st Century" (Cambridge 2020, co-authored). Fulya Apaydin (IBEI) will then offer some reflections before a Q&A with the audience. About the book: Is there any hope for those who despair at the state of the world and the powerlessness of governments to find a way forward? Lopez-Carlos, Dahl and Groff provide ambitious but reasonable proposals to give our globalized world the institutions of international governance necessary to address effectively the catastrophic risks facing humanity that require international cooperation. The solution, the authors suggest, is to extend to the international level the same principles of sensible governance that exist in well-governed national systems: rule of law, legislation in the common interest, an executive branch to implement such legislation, and courts to enforce it. The best protection is unified collective action, based on shared values and respect for diversity, to implement international principles to advance universal human prosperity and well-being. About the author: Augusto Lopez-Claros is an international economist with over 30 years of experience in international organizations, including as the Director of the Global Indicators Group at the World Bank, Chief Economist and Director of the Global Competitiveness Program at the World Economic Forum, and a Resident Representative for the International Monetary Fund. He was also Senior Fellow at the Edmund Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and Professor of Economics at the University of Chile (Santiago). He has written extensively on a wide range of topics in his field, including European economic integration, determinants of competitiveness, reform issues in transition economies, and economic dimensions of gender inequality. Moderator: Kari Otteburn (KU Leuven) Discussant: Fulya Apaydin (Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals)