Conferentie Interculturele Dialoog 11 december

20 november 2008 -

"European Year of Intercultural Dialogue:

The Minority Agenda"

11 December, 2008

09h00 - 12h30

European Parliament, Brussels

Room P1A002

Speakers include:

Knut Vollebaek - OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities

György Konrád - Leading Hungarian novelist, essayist and former dissident

Frans Timmermans - Minister for European Affairs of The Netherlands

Nicolae Gheorghe - Coordinator of the Roma Centre for Social Intervention and Studies

Fair policies can only grow out of respect for cultural differences. To conclude a series of events in the framework of the ‘European Year of Intercultural Dialogue’, the PSE Group focuses on the cultural dimension of minority policies in Europe.

The countries of Central and Eastern Europe have in the last two decades gone through a democratic and socio-economic transition which is without precedent. Latent problems related to that process came to surface after EU accession, culminating in expressions of extreme nationalism, the rise of populist parties and the reappearance of unresolved questions concerning minorities.

Europe's Roma face structural socio-economic discrimination. As a transnational European minority, however, their exclusion also has a cultural dimension. Apart from the recognition of their contribution to European culture, an important question is how identity issues affect inclusion policies.

For more information and registration please contact Isabelle Mertz: isabelle.mertz@europarl.europa.eu or +32 (0)2 28 43194.

If you need an access badge for the European Parliament, please specify your full name, organisation and date of birth. Our welcome desk will open on Thursday 11 December, 8:30 - 10.00 at the main entrance of the European Parliament in Rue Wiertz (Altiero Spinelli).