The war in Ukraine has shaked the EU and its geopolitical ambitions.

How should we understand this ‘Whatever It Takes’ moment and what is to be expected? As Secretary-General of the European Parliament and guest professor at the Social Sciences Faculty, Mr. Klaus Welle, will share his views on the current state of affairs in Europe.

Programme

14.00 Guest lecture by Klaus Welle 14.30 Discussion with Els Van Hoof (President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives) and Dumitru Malcoci (KU Leuven Master of European Studies alumnus from Moldova)

15.00 Q&A with the audience

15.30 Coffee and cake

The event is open to everyone - particularly students, staff and alumni of the KU Leuven as well as donators of the Wilfried Martens Fund – but registration is obligatory. Attendance is free of charge. In return we kindly ask participants to support the students’ Ukraine solidarity campaign www.student4student.be.

More info here on SG Klaus Welle and the Wilfried Martens Fund.

Abstract

Europe boasts a strong space sector. This is largely the legacy of successful space programmes, particularly those on satellite navigation and Earth observation, mostly built on public support. However, the space sector is undergoing unprecedented transformation and development on a global scale. Major technology advancements, a new entrepreneurial spirit and a renewed policy focus have put the space sector under the spotlight on the global innovation stage. Such rapid and constant transformation calls for new approaches to funding and supporting space ventures.
In this lecture, we will discuss the recent trends in the European space sector and the obstacles that European space companies face when they seek financing. We will also look at potential solutions that may help improve access of European space companies to funding sources. We will talk about synergies between public and private funding, and discuss in detail how EU funds could be deployed to attract private investment and otherwise catalyse the development of the sector.
We will conclude the lecture with an overview of how the European Investment Bank and European Investment Fund are supporting the European space sector: we will present the available funding programmes of the EIB and EIF and what companies can benefit from them. We will also explain advisory and other non-financial means of support of the European space ecosystem. Finally, we will provide a glimpse of the upcoming funding programmes that EIB and EIF are currently discussing with our partners at the European Commission.

Short Bio

Shiva Dustdar has over 28 years of experience in the financial industry working for large private and public institutions in New York, London and Luxembourg. Since joining EIB in 2003, she has worked in risk management, lending and investing in innovative companies and currently heads the Innovation Finance Advisory (IFA) Division in the EIB. IFA provides financial advice to public and private entities, performing market studies and developing new financial products to meet the financing needs in green, digital, gendersmart and health-related areas.
She started her career in 1993 at J.P. Morgan Investment Banking in New York working in M&A, Project Finance and Emerging Markets before joining Fitch Rating Agency in 1999 to set up its European High Yield rating business.
Shiva holds a BA in Economics from Columbia University and an Executive MBA from London Business School (LBS). She is a regular speaker on innovation and impact financing, gender smart investing, digital and green financing and actively engaged in networks that promote sustainable and mission oriented financing..

This transatlantic dialogue focuses on the EU’s and the US’ positioning and action towards human rights and democracy in multilateral fora, such as the UN Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly. The conversation between the two experts starts from a reflection on the efforts of both actors in the United Nations and other global governance frameworks to promote human rights and democracy over the last years. They will also discuss challenges that both actors have faced and still face in this regard. Moreover, the discussion will cover initiatives of the EU and the US to work together towards the promotion of human rights and democracy. These include the EU’s ‘New EU-US agenda for global change’ and its ‘Global human rights sanction system’ and the US administration’s plans to rejoin the UN Human Rights Council and to host a Summit for Democracy.