26th International WDR Europaforum 2024
Programme
The upcoming European elections in June 2024 will be a key date for the European Union: in an international environment lurching from crisis to crisis, the project of uniting Europe is facing an existential test.
Day 1
Live on WDR-Television | 27th May 2024
12.00 Welcome
Tom Buhrow | Director General of Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Barbara Gessler | Head of the Representation of the European Commission in Germany
Georg Pfeifer | Head of the Representation of the European Parliament in Germany
12.15 Short film
Best-of WDR Europaforum
12.20 Interview
Lessons from history?
Dealing with extremism and nationalism
Prof. Dr. Mirjam Zadoff | Historian and Director of the Munich NS Documentation Centre
Interview: Georg Restle, Director and presenter of the political programme Monitor (ARD)
12.45 Break
13.00 Interview
Weak Ampel, strong right-hand traffic?
Government action and the the political fringes
Wolfgang Schmidt | Head of the Federal Chancellery, Federal Minister for Special Tasks (SPD)
Interview: Sabine Scholt, Head of WDR Programme Group Television Current Affairs, Europe and Abroad
Followed by an exchange with the audience
13.40 Short interviews
Europe our future?
What’s left of the promise of the founding years
Voices of young MEPs
13.45 Discussion
Diagnosis: dark
Europe’s immunodeficiency and what to do about it
Dr. Ulf Buermeyer | Lawyer, co-host of the political podcast “Lage der Nation”
Sylvie Goulard | President of the Franco-German Institute
Susanne Hyldelund | Ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark, Berlin
Prof. em. Dr. Dieter Rucht | Sociologist at the Berlin Social Science Centre, protest researcher
Moderation: Eva Lindenau, Programme Director phoenix
14.30 Interview
“Brussels” – the nationalists’ favourite foe?
The EU and the illiberal challenge
Dr. Ursula von der Leyen | President of the European Commission
Moderation: Markus Preiß, Head of ARD European Studio Brussels
Followed by an exchange with the audience
15.00 Short interviews
Europe our future?
What’s left of the promise of the founding years
Voices of young MEPs
15.05 Q&A session
Questions from users Dr. Ursula von der Leyen
Hosts: Carolin Bredendiek & Florian Gregorzyk | Moderators „0630 – Der Newspodcast“
15.30 End
Day 2
Live on WDR-Television | 28th May 2024
13.00 Discussion
Damned if you do… damned if you don’t?
The role of media in the face of pressure on Democracy
Jan Hollitzer | Editor-in-Chief Thüringer Allgemeine
Dr. Anna Litvinenko | Communication scientist at FU Berlin
Jörg Schönenborn | Programme Director WDR
Nadia Zaboura | Communication scientist and media critic
Moderation: Vivian Perkovic, Journalist and presenter of the 3sat magazine programme “Kulturzeit” (ARD)
13.40 Short interviews
Europe our future?
What’s left of the promise of the founding years
Voices of young MEPs
13.45 Discussion
Everything on the right
Commonality and diversity of populist and extremist movements in Europe
Prof. Dr. Giovanni Capoccia | Political scientist, Professor of Comparative Politics at the University of Oxford
Dr. Agnieszka Łada-Konefał | Political scientist, Deputy Director of the German Poland Institute
Natascha Strobl | Political scientist, right-wing extremism expert, Vienna
Moderation: Georg Restle, Director and presenter of the political programme Monitor (ARD)
14.30 End
Day 3
Live on WDR-Television | 29th May 2024
13.00 Interview
Crisis as a trigger for radicalisation
Economic responses to the rise of the nationalists
Robert Habeck | Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Vice Chancellor
Interview: Louis Klamroth, Presenter Hart aber Fair (ARD/Das Erste), journalist
Followed by an exchange with the audience
13.25 Q&A session
Questions of users to Robert Habeck
Hosts: Carolin Bredendiek & Florian Gregorzyk | Moderators „0630 – Der Newspodcast“
13.45 Discussion
Discuss? Ignore? Differentiate?
How civil society deals with populists and extremists
Joachim Gauck | Former German Federal President
Prof. Dr. Christina Morina | Historian, Professor of General History with special emphasis on Contemporary History at Bielefeld University
Moderation: Isabel Schayani, Head of WDRforyou and presenter Weltspiegel (ARD/Das Erste)
Followed by an exchange with the audience
14.30 Interviews
Looking back in…
Outgoing MEPs and their view on Europe
Cornelia Ernst | The Left group in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL, MEP
Michael Kauch | Renew Europe Group, MEP
Dietmar Köster | Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, MEP
Joachim Kuhs | Identity and Democracy Group Member, MEP
Marlene Mortler | Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats), MEP
Interview: Christian Feld & Tobias Reckmann, ARD European Studio Brussels
15.15 Short portraits
German top candidates for the elections to the European Parliament
15.30 End
Young MEPs in the short interviews
Alviina Alametsä | Group of the Greens / European Free Alliance, MEP
Delara Burkhardt | Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, MEP
Michiel Hoogeveen | European Conservatives and Reformists Group, MEP
Arba Kokalari | Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats), MEP
Moritz Körner | Renew Europe Group, MEP
Nikolaj Villumsen | The Left group in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL, MEP
Presenter
Sabine Scholt | Head of WDR Programme Group Current Affairs, Europe and Abroad
Conception | Realisation
Ferdos Forudastan | Head of WDR Europaforum, chief editorial office Politics and Current Affairs, WDR
Torsten Beermann | Editor Domestic Programme Group, WDR