Prague European Summit
Among the notable speakers of this pilot year were Frans Timmermans, First Vice-President of the European Commission, Thierry Chopin, Research Director at the Robert Schuman Foundation, Tomáš Sedláček, chief macroeconomist at ČSOB Bank, Iryna Solonenko, researcher at European University Viadrina and Associate Fellow at the Robert Bosch Center for Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia, or Jana Hybášková, head of the Delegation of the EU to Namibia.
The conference included a key-note speech by Lubomír Zaorálek, the minister of foreign affairs of the Czech Republic, in which he emphasised the importance of acting as a united Europe and avoiding the freeriding of some members.
The second conference of the Prague European Summit took place between 6–8 June 2016 and focused on the EU's "togetherness", solidarity and cohesion, bearing the title "EU in a Time of Crisis: Better Together?” The conference was attended by the prime ministers of the V4 countries: Bohuslav Sobotka of the Czech Republic, Beata Szydło of Poland, Robert Fico of Slovakia, and Viktor Orbán of Hungary.
Other notable speakers included Kristalina Georgieva, European Commission vice-president, Country Director of Google in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Tania le Moigne, Agata Gostynska-Jakubowska, research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, or Tim Worstall, fellow at the Adam Smith Institute, or Brian Whitmore, journalist and analyst of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
However, he appreciated the effort the Union is making to become a more independent international actor and he emphasized the importance of a rational approach to European problem-solving concerning economy, globalization and technological advancement.
[3] Other significant speakers were for instance Eric Maurice, Editor-in-Chief of EUobserver, Simon Nixon, Chief European commentator at the Wall Street Journal, Massimo D’Alema, former prime minister of Italy, Rudolf Jindrák from the Office of the President of the Czech Republic, Taavi Rõivas, former prime minister of Estonia, the then ministers of foreign affairs of the Czech Republic and Slovakia Lubomír Zaorálek and Miroslav Lajčák, Governor of the Czech National Bank Jiří Rusnok, and also experts from leading European universities, research centres and non-profit organizations, as well as journalists who report on European affairs, and businesspeople.
The Summit of 2017 was enriched by guests called new voices – representatives of civil society, activists and future leaders, who usually do not attend the traditional type of conferences.
He is a professor of European Studies at the University of Oxford and author of a number of publications about the history of contemporary Europe and its transformation over the last thirty years.
The keynote speeches were delivered by Andrej Babiš, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, followed by Věra Jourová, the European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality.
[5] Jourová put emphasis on the disunity in the EU, especially the division between the East and the West, where the former feels marginalized, and the rise of nationalism and populism.
Tomáš Petříček, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, spoke about an increase of Chinese interest in the continent and a decrease of involvement from the United States.
And finally, Paweł Świeboda, the deputy head of the European Political Strategy Centre, the in-house think tank of the European Commission, spoke of specific geopolitical trends which are likely to affect the future of the EU, namely increasing defense spending of China, which is set to overtake EU's collective defense spending in 2025, or Africa's population growth, which is expected to double by 2050.
The ceremony took place in the gardens of the Czernin Palace and the 2019 award went to the former prime minister of Slovakia and current president of the Wilfried Martens Centre Brussels Mikuláš Dzurinda.
