Organised by Professor Daniele Caramani, Director of the European Governance and Politics Programme at the Robert Schuman Centre and the first Ernst B. Haas Chair holder at the EUI, welcomed prominent scholars who made distinctive and original contributions on several research strands initiated by Haas over the course of the three-day event.
“More than a conference on the scholar, this was an opportunity to discuss how, today, his contribution has brought our theories on community and governance beyond the nation-state,” explained Caramani. “In addition, we addressed neglected aspects of Haas’ work – such as science, technocracy, nationalism and climate change – that go beyond neo-functionalism and integration.”
The conference began with an institutional welcome by Prof. Caramani and the EUI President, Renaud Dehousse. Ernst B. Haas’s son, Peter Haas, delivered a keynote speech in which he shared personal memories of his father, discussed his work and speculated on his view of today’s world. "Ernst B. Haas was sceptical and unimpressed with existing International Relations theories. He considered complexity as a global condition to be addressed with the diplomatic intervention of experts," recalled Peter Haas.
The conference also served as the occasion to launch the recently created Ernst B. Haas Chair. On 25 May, the second day of the conference, Emeritus Professor Brigid Laffan, former Director of the Robert Schuman Centre, provided insights into the institutional development of the Schuman Centre and how it shaped research on European governance and politics. "The evolution was not planned, but demand-led, and the Centre was very responsive," she said. Laffan explained that the only way to ensure the future of a research programme on EU governance and politics was to create a chair: "It had to be very symbolic and clear. We only discussed one name - Ernst B. Haas."
Over the course of the three-day conference, academics debated and discussed wide-ranging topics such as theoretical developments, European integration, technocracy and the interface between science and politics, environment, human rights and liberal nationalism.
Check out the photo gallery of the conference.