The registration for this conference is closed. It is possible to attend the sessions before and after lunch without registration.
The present conference is the major and concluding event of the research project The Norwegian Constitution in a Changing European Context (NORCONE). It has considered the nature of democratic constitutionalism in today’s Europe and evaluated how European and global developments shape constitutional democracy in Norway.
The conference is organised as part of the 2014 bicentenary of Norway's Constitution, which was signed on 17 May 1814. The date, 4 November 2014, marks the bicentenary of Norway’s accession to a union with Sweden and the first constitutional revision. This highlights how important the relationships with the external world are in the shaping of all states as democratic states.
The first part of the conference consists of keynotes aiming at providing us with ‘the big picture’ of democratic constitutionalism in Europe today. What is the nature of the European Union in constitutional terms? What is the present status of democracy in Europe? What has the euro crisis done to constitutional democracy at both the national and the supranational level?
The second part is a panel debate discussing what options the EU has, what options states in Europe have and the implications of membership and non-membership. This provides a further opportunity to reflect on the implications of the crisis and consider these in light of membership–non-membership status. There will also be specific focus on the situation for Norway, as an associate non-member state. What is the condition for a closely associated non-member such as Norway? Being a rule-taker appears akin to voluntary submission under hegemony. Is that an apt description of Norway (and the other EEA states)? Is that also the case for Switzerland?
More about the topics to be discussed at the conference
Part I: What form of democracy is possible in today’s Europe?
08.30 Registration and coffee
09.00
Welcome
Ole Petter Ottersen, Rector, University of Oslo
Olemic Thommessen, President of the Norwegian Parliament
09.30
Challenges to European constitutionalism – an overview
John Erik Fossum, ARENA, University of Oslo
Agustín José Menéndez, ARENA, University of Oslo and University of León
10.15 Coffee
10.30
Integration through law, economic constitutionalism and the new modes of economic governance: The OMT controversy in context
Christian Joerges, Hertie School of Governance, Berlin
Comment by Inger Johanne Sand, University of Oslo
11.30
Demoicratic constitutionalism: Elites versus peoples?
Kalypso Nicolaïdis, University of Oxford
Comment by Christopher Lord, ARENA, University of Oslo
12.30 Lunch
Part II: Is the EU the only game in town?
13.30-14.30
Norway and the EU – in a year of anniversaries
Ingvild Næss Stub, State Secretary, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Constitutional celebration with an aftertaste
Erik O. Eriksen, ARENA, University of Oslo
Switzerland: A model to emulate?
Joachim Blatter, University of Lucerne
14.30-16.00
Panel debate
Joachim Blatter, University of Lucerne
Bruno De Witte, European University Institute
Erik O. Eriksen, ARENA, University of Oslo
Carol Harlow, London School of Economics and Political Science
Imelda Maher, University College Dublin
Harm Schepel, University of Kent
Daniel Thym, University of Konstanz
Chair: Cathrine Holst, ARENA, University of Oslo
Registration
The event is open for everyone.
The registration is closed, but it is possible to attend the sessions before and after lunch without registration.
