“Invigorating EU Enlargement”: TEPSA hosts a high-level conference on accelerating European integration

Brussels, 29/10/2026 – On 5 November 2026, TEPSA will host a high-level conference in Brussels to find ways to reinvigorate the EU’s integration process.

The event, titled “Invigorating EU Enlargement”, will take place at the BIP Meeting Centre, Rue Royale 2-4, 1000 Brussels and will mark the Final Conference of the Horizon Europe-funded “InvigoratEU – Invigorating Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy for a Resilient Europe” project. Launched in 2024, the project has gathered experts from leading universities and research institutes across Europe and candidate countries to identify and address the pressures and challenges to European enlargement.

The event will comprise interactive sessions and panel conversations featuring high-level speakers from EU institutions, the media, and civil society organisations. Director-General for DG ENEST, Gert Jan Koopman, will also be present, delivering a keynote speech on the future of European integration. Additionally, the event will showcase InvigoratEU’s communications activities to raise awareness of EU enlargement, including the winning submissions of the public contest “What future for the European continent?”, which ran in the Summer of 2026.

Commenting on what to expect from the Final Conference, Project Coordinator Michael Kaeding (University Duisburg-Essen) and Scientific Lead Funda Tekin (Institut für Europäische Politik) stated, “The Final Conference of the InvigoratEU project comes at a pivotal moment for European integration. On 6 October, the European Commission presented its pre-enlargement policy reviews, which concluded that the EU could take in new members without changing the existing Treaties. On top of this, Member States have shared their own ideas through new non-papers, notably on gradual integration and a new generation of accession treaties. These developments point to a widespread desire to accelerate accession and to finding a solution for how to square the circle between a geopolitical enlargement and the merit-based approach of accession. How can this momentum be translated into tangible results? Drawing on the project’s research, we will bring together researchers, policymakers, and civil society representatives to explore how enlargement can advance in a way that strengthens both the EU and its future members.” 

Registrations are now open on TEPSA’s website. Discussions will be livestreamed via TEPSA’s YouTube channel – subscribe by clicking here.

Notes to Editors

InvigoratEU is a Horizon Europe-funded project launched in 2024 under the leadership of Michael Kaeding of the University of Duisburg-Essen as Coordinator and Funda Tekin of Institut für Europäische Politik as Scientific Lead.

Alongside the University of Duisburg-Essen and Institut für Europäische Politik, the InvigoratEU consortium includes: Carnegie Europe, the Trans European Policy Studies Association, the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, PMCG Research, Istituto Affari Internazionali, the Latvian Institute of International Affairs, Vilnius University, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, Institutul pentru Initiative Strategice, University of Montenegro, Maastricht University, Jagiellonian University, European Policy Centre Belgrade, CIDOB, ETH Zurich, and Razumkov Centre.

For press and media presence at the Conference, please contact Barbara Vanotti, TEPSA’s Communications Manager.