https://maastrichtworkshop.wordpress.com/

The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of
Maastricht, and the Center for International Relations Studies at the
University of Liège, invite paper proposals for a workshop on:

‘The role of non-state actors in the EU’s relations with Eastern
Europe and Central Asia’
at Maastricht University on 28-29 April 2016

The workshop – funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific
Research (NWO) – intends to bring together academic scholars and
senior members of the Brussels diplomatic community, to provide an
assessment of the role of non-state actors in the EU’s relations with
Eastern Europe (the Eastern Partnership countries), the Russian
Federation and Central Asia. The focus is placed on a set of actors –
such as national or multinational corporations, oligarchs and business
cartels, think tanks, NGOs, private donors & foundations, religious
organisations or organised criminal networks – whose role in and
influence on the EU’s policies towards partner counties in its closer
and wider neighbourhoods has so far escaped a systematic and
theoretically informed analysis.

The deadline for the submission of paper proposals (max. 500 words) is
Wednesday, 23 March 2016. Submissions should be sent to the workshop
organisers via Giselle Bosse (g.bosse{at}maastrichtuniversity.nl) and
Michal Natorski (Michal.Natorski{at}ulg.ac.be).

Accepted contributions should be presented at the workshop in form of
short concept papers(3000-5000 words). After the workshop,
contributors are expected to develop the concept paper into a full
manuscript for publication in a special issue or edited volume with a
leading international journal/publisher.

The organisers cover all costs of transport and accommodation for
workshop participants.