6th International Expert Seminar: EU-Israel relations and the transatlantic dimension after a year of change

This was a closed-door event.

The Foundation for European Progressive Studies, alongside the Karl-Renner-Institut and the Fondation Jean Jaurès, organised their sixth annual EU-Israel international seminar on the topic of ‘EU-Israel relations and the transatlantic dimension after a year of change’.

The expert seminar was held online on Thursday, 26th November 2020, and was co-organised in collaboration with the Macro Center for Political Economics, the Institute for National Security Studies, and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Israel Office.

The event featured a number of distinguished policy experts from Europe and Israel, providing an ideal opportunity to discuss and analyse in a positive, forward-looking way how the opportunities and challenges that exist in the bilateral relationship can be best tackled. At the same time, the event explored the impact of a new US administration under Joe Biden on the trilateral EU-US-Israel relationship and the region, against the backdrop of a set of shifting regional peace dynamics.

To kick off the discussion, Ambassador Oded Eran* presented his most-recent paper "Reasons for Optimism in 2021" with reflections on why 2021 could be a year of renewal, including also for the EU-Israel relationship and for transatlantic cooperation. You can download the publication below.

*Oded Eran is a former Ambassador of Israel to the EU and Jordan. He currently is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv.

"Reasons for Optimism" by Oded Eran (November 2020)