The French ambassador to the United States, Pierre Vimont, will give the keynote address on Oct. 20 for the European Union Center celebration on campus.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The French ambassador to the United States, Pierre Vimont, will give the keynote address on Oct. 20 for “Celebrating the European Union” Week, Oct. 20-23 on the University of Illinois campus.
Vimont’s address, on the subject of transatlantic relations, is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. in the ballroom of the Alice Campbell Alumni Center, 601 S. Lincoln Ave., Urbana. The event is free and open to the public.
“Celebrating the European Union” Week was organized by the university’s European Union Center to commemorate its 10th anniversary. The center was established in 1998, with support from the European Commission, as one of the 10 original EU Centers of Excellence in the United States.
Preceding Vimont’s address will be a panel discussion at 2 p.m. on “The Future of the EU,” also in the alumni center ballroom. Along with Vimont, the speakers will include Luc Véron, from the Delegation of the European Commission in the U.S., and other EU consuls general from Chicago representing Austria, the Czech Republic, Ireland and the Netherlands.
The other public events scheduled for the week:
• Oct. 21, a symposium on “The Euro, the Dollar, and the Global Financial Crisis,” at 5 p.m. in the alumni center ballroom, with speakers Mark Forcier, business development manager for J.D. Honigberg International Inc.; Charles Kahn, a professor of finance at Illinois; Amy Medearis, an economist from the Delegation of the European Commission to the U.S., and Anne Villamil, a professor of economics at Illinois.
• Oct. 22, a “Taste of Europe” at the Bevier Café in Bevier Hall, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., featuring a lunch menu of European dishes. The menu and prices for this event will be posted on the Bevier Café Web site.
• Oct. 23, a symposium on “U.S.-EU-Russia: New Strategic Dynamics After Bush,” at 4 p.m. in Room 314 of the Illini Union, 1401 W. Green St., Urbana.
Featured speakers will be Robert Brannon, the director of the Program in Advanced Security Studies at the George C. Marshall Center in Germany; Roger Kanet, a professor of international relations at the University of Miami; Carol Leff, a professor of political science at Illinois; and Robert Pahre, director of the European Union Center at Illinois.
Additional details can be found on this EU Center Web page.
