'The EU and the Middle East Peace Process at a Crossroad – Challenges and Opportunities for EU Engagement’

 
The EURO MIDDLE EAST FORUM (EMEF)
&
YOUNG PROFESSIONALS IN FOREIGN POLICY (YPFP)

invite you to a debate on
 
‘The EU and the Middle East Peace Process at a Crossroad – Challenges and Opportunities for EU Engagement’
 
with
 
Annemie NEYTS-UYTTEBROECK,
Member of the European Parliament (EP), Vice-Chair of the EP’s Working Group on the Middle East
&
John GATT-RUTTER,
Member of the Middle East Task Force in the Council secretariat

Wednesday, 10 June 2009 | 19.00 – 20.30
Le Cercle des Voyageurs
Rue des Grand Carmes 18
Brussels
______________________________________________________
 
Dear fellow Young Professional,
 
In recent months, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has once again moved into to the centre of world attention. Starting at the end of last year with the war in Gaza, a new US administration taking office equipped with a fresh look on the conflict and willing to break the deadlock, and the recent formation of a new Israeli government, which has thus far failed to explicitly endorse a two-state solution, the current situation provides the international community with both new challenges and opportunities.
 
The EU as a member of the Middle East Quartetand a primary donor and partner for both Israel and the Palestinian Territories, has in recent years been seeking to play a more active political role in the peace process. However, often enough the three leading institutions, the European Parliament (EP), the European Commission and the 27 EU member states have failed to speak with one voice.
 
Given this background, we are pleased to invite you to a very timely debate entitled ‘The EU and the Middle East Peace Process at a Crossroad – Challenges and Opportunities for EU Engagement’, through which we hope to learn more about the complexities of the EU decision-making process and how those affect the EU's ability to formulate a coherent Common Foreign and Security Policy on the world stage.
 
The discussants will be Ms. Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck, MEP and Vice-Chair of the EP’s Working Group on the Middle East, and Mr. John Gatt-Rutter, member of the Middle East Task Force in the Council secretariat, which is directly attached to the High Representative for the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy, Dr. Javier Solana.
 
Ms. Neyts-Uyttebroeck has been Belgian minister of state since 1995 and was deputy foreign minister in charge of European affairs from 2001-2003. As Vice-Chair of the EP Working Group on the Middle East, she co-chaired the EP's ad hoc delegation to Israel and the Palestinian Territories in May-June 2008. She currently leads the European Liberal and Democratic Party (ELDR) and is Coordinator for Foreign Affairs, Security and Defence for the ALDE group in the European Parliament. 
 
We are looking forward to welcoming you at this debate, which shall be followed by drinks at the venue, open to all. To attend this event, please respond asap to renata.zaleska@ypfp.org. Asspace is limited, please respond only if you are certain to attend.  
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Euro Middle East Forum (EMEF) & Young Professionals in Foreign Policy (YPFP)
 
 
For more information on EMEF: http://www.euromiddleeast.org/
 
To learn more about us or become a Member of YPFP: http://www.ypfp.org/membership/apply-and-renew 

 
YPFP Programming Policies
 
For ensuring the high quality of our events, we kindly ask you to respect the following guidelines:
 
1. All our speaker events are off-the-record.
2. As a gesture of respect towards the speakers, we kindly ask all participants to dress in business attire.
3. As space is limited, we kindly ask members who reply to make every effort to attend. If you sign up but are unable to come, please notify us asap by sending an email to renata.zaleska@ypfp.org.
3. Members may request guests, but as space may be limited, we cannot guarantee them access. When requesting a guest, please provide his/her name, affiliation, and email address so that we may confirm with them directly. 

The respect of these key principles will help us providing with high quality events and top-notch speakers in the future.