The meeting takes place on 28 September 2017 in the building of the Limburg Parliament in Maastricht as of 13.30 hours. The event will be especially enriched by an exclusive keynote speech on the future challenges for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, held by Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission. Hans-Gert Pöttering, Chairman of KAS and former President of the European Parliament, will also be a key note speaker at the event.

At present, the European Union and its institutions have to cope with increasingly critical voices that are questioning the Union’s prospects of success. KAS opinion is that the spread of these often nationalistic attitudes makes it ever more important to remember the roots of the EU and the primary incentives that shaped its foundation in 1992. On this occasion, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung invites political and social representatives, students and European citizens to join. Unlike a classic anniversary, the event aims to critically appreciate the founding date of the European Union and ‘thinking Maastricht forward’. Against the background of the Union’s founding history, they will jointly develop new approaches and ideas for Europe’s future course in key policy areas such as the Monetary Union, Security and Foreign Affairs, as well as participatory democracy. Policy makers and academic representatives from then and now will face the questions of today’s generation to discuss the basic principles of tomorrow’s Europe.