The IIP, ICEUR and the Raiffaisen Bank International are happy to invite you to the conference on the topic

THE VIENNA PROCESS 2017: In Search of a New Balanced Relationship

Date:                               4 and 5 of December 2017

Venue:                            Raiffaisen Bank International, Am Stadtpark9, 1030 Wien

Registration:                  office@iceur-vienna.at  

Panelists and Moderators

• Hans-Georg Heinrich                         (Professor, Vice-President and manager of ICEUR-Vienna)
• Hannes Swoboda                               (President of the IIP and ICEUR-Vienna, Former chairman, parliamentary fraction of the European Socialist Party)
• Johannes Hahn                                   (Eu Commissioner ofr Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations)
• Florian Raunig                                    (Head, Task Force, OSCE Chair)
• Erhard Busek                                      (President of ICEUR-Vienna, Former Vice-Premier of Austria)
• Michael Ludwig                                  (City council man for Residential construction and urban renewal, Vienna)
• Emil Brix                                             (Director of the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna)
• Vladislav Maslennikov                       (Deputy Director of the Dep. of European Cooperation, MFA, RF)
• Ursula Fahringer                                (Envoy, MFA, Austria)
• Dmitrii Lyubinski                                (Ambassador of the RF to Austria)
• Emil Brix                                             (Director of the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna)
• Michael Löwy                                     (Head of international relations, Federation of Austrian Industries)
• Ekaterina Schulmann                         (School of Public Policy, Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Affairs under the President)
• Aleksander Murychev                        (Executive Vice President, Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs)
• Bernadette Gierlinger                        (Head, Center for Foreign Trade Policy and European Integration)
• Evysev Gurvich                                   (Head of the Economic Expert Group, Deputy Head of the Public Council at the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation
• Mikhail Dmitriev                                (President, Partnership “New Economic Growth)
• Sergei Medvedev                               (Prof. at the Faculty of Social Sciences, School of Political Science HSE)
• Stephan Barisitz                                 (Research Economist, Austrian National Bank)
• Tatyana Valovaya                               (Member of the Board – Minister in charge of Integration and Macroeconomics of the Eurasian Economic Commission)
• Natalya Zubarevich                            (Prof. of Social Economic Geography, Moscow State University)
• Peter Havlik                                       (Senior Economist, WIIW)
• Nikolay Petrov                                    (Prof. at the Faculty of Social Sciences, School of Political Science HSE)
• Alexey Malashenko                            (Chief Researcher, Dialogue of Civilizations Institute)
• Franz Cede                                         (Former Austrian Ambassador to the RF and NATO)

Content

The Vienna Process (VP) was established as a forum for a meaningful dialogue between the EU and Russia in 2009. Continued until 2013 on an annual basis, it proved to be a venue for the resolution of practical and concrete problems, a business incubator and an institutional arrangement for the informal exchange of ideas. As relations between the West and the Russian Federation soured, voices from both sides accumulated that suggested a resumption of the VP in a new format.

After a break of five years, we were encouraged by our Russian and EU interlocutors to resume the process. This year, EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn has confirmed his participation. The Austrian OSCE Chair has supported our initiative and will be represented at the event, which will also generate inputs into the relevant programming of the Austrian EU Chair in the coming year.

As in the past, the point of departure is the necessity to maintain and, if possible, to boost a meaningful dialogue, having in mind, but factoring out the controversies and differing political standpoints of the sides. The underlying philosophy, then, is to widen the areas of mutual understanding and cooperation over time. This presupposes the search for common grounds, namely a discussion about in which areas a rapprochement is possible. The most likely candidate is business relations which have been left uncontaminated by high politics. The focus of this year´s Vienna Process, which is scheduled for December 2017, will therefore be on economic and business relations. Unlike previous events, the time frame will be shortened to 1 ½ days, in order to stimulate a more intensive discussion on predominantly technical issues. Within this broader thematic framework, agriculture and food processing seems to have the highest potential for cooperative ventures, since the sanctions have revealed the necessity for import substitution. The business focus is particularly important in view of possible liberal reforms which are being elaborated by eminent Russian experts.

The event will be held in English

By participating in this event you agree that any photos or recordings taken that include footage of your person may be published or used in any other way by the organizers of the event.