From September 20th to 22nd 2024, the Passion for Europe Workshop gathered once again in the Jesuit Spiritual centre of La Pairelle near Namur, for its sixth edition. This year’s edition had for theme “European Democracy in the light of the War in Ukraine: something worth fighting for?” and aimed to explore the impact the Russian attack on Ukraine had on Europe’s understanding of its own democracy, and how it revealed its value, its strengths, and its weaknesses.
Organised by the Passion for Europe group, a group of Christians of different nationalities and confessions involved in EU activities, in collaboration with JESC, the workshop brought together about 40 participants from all over Europe. As in previous years, the financial support from Renovabis enabled younger participants from Central and Eastern Europe to join the session, enriching it with more varied perspectives.
Professor Antoine Arjakovsky, co-director of the Politics and Religions research department at the French Collège des Bernardins, was the keynote speaker of this edition. He started with a thought-provoking conference on Friday evening. Drawing from his experience as a diplomat in Moscow and Kyiv, as well as from his work in ecumenical theology, Prof. Arjakovsky offered a passionate account of the roots of the conflict, its complexity, and possible avenues to bring about a just peace. His open and frank input set the tone for later discussions.
The next day, two panels continued exploring the topic. In the morning, Karl Heinz Lamberts, former President of the European Committee of the Regions, and Domenico Rossetti, Deputy Head of the Research and Innovation Unit at the Commission as well as Secretary General of the Belgian section of the European Union of Federalists, offered their assessments of the state of European democracy. They highlighted the challenge posed by populism and disenchantment in the European peace project but also offered some thoughts on how to bring citizens closer to the European Union’s institutions. The essential, but often undervalued, role played by cohesion policies was stressed in the discussion.
In the afternoon, Sébastien Maillard, from the Jacques Delors Institute and Chatham House, Josianne Gauthier, from International Cooperation for Development Solidarity (CIDSE), and Edmond Grace SJ widened the perspective. From the role played by the EU on the world stage in the search for peaceful development to the renewal of local politics by citizens’ panels, they explored possibilities while acknowledging the very real challenges the EU faces today. At the forefront of their concerns was the danger of Europe adopting a purely defensive stance, economically and politically, at the risk of setting aside the values it was founded upon.
The Passion for Europe workshop is not just about rich conferences and panels. Its interest also lies in the occasion it offers to participants to debate among themselves more in-depth, in smaller, mixed groups. And the more social times, during the breaks, the meals and the beer-tasting evenings, are also a key component of the experience. Over the weekend, they helped to create a trusting setting, allowing for deeper and more truthful discussions. Also, the weekend was wonderfully sunny, allowing participants to enjoy fully La Pairelle and its gardens and green surroundings.
More information on the workshop and the group “Passion for Europe” can be found on the group’s website at passionforeurope.com.
Benoit Willemaers sj
JESC Secretary for European Affairs
