The Department of EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies at the College of Europe will hold the eleventh high-level annual “EU Diplomacy Lectures” in Bruges on Thursday, 17 October 2024, followed by a short Q&A session.
Dr. Sven Koopmans, EU Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process
“Middle East Peace and the EU − of wishful thinking and hard realities”
EU Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process Mr Sven Koopmans will discuss unspoken thinking and inevitable actions to deal with the ultimate conflict.
The Lecture will be livestreamed. It will be followed by a reception. Registration is required by Monday 14 October 2024 (12h00 noon).
About the speaker
On 29 April 2021, the EU Member States appointed Dr. Sven Michael George KOOPMANS as the EU Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process. He is charged with providing an active contribution to the final settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on a two-state solution, in line with the UNSCR 2334 (2016). He reports directly to the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on this issue and maintains an overview of all EU regional activities linked to the Middle East Peace Process.
From 2017 to 2021 Dr. KOOPMANS was a Member of Parliament in The Netherlands for the governing VVD party, first as spokesman on legal affairs, then on foreign affairs and military missions. He was Head of Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, President of the Dutch-French Contact Group, Chair of the Parliamentary Commission on Requests and Citizen Initiatives, and Member of the Parliamentary Assemblies of the Council of Europe and the OSCE.
Between 2003 and 2016 he was political and legal advisor in peace processes, border conflict mediation and constitutional review processes under the auspices of the European Union, United Nations, African Union and OSCE, among others, including in Cyprus, Darfur, Mali, Ukraine and Guyana/Venezuela. He was senior mediation expert to the UN Special Envoy for Syria (2014-16), advisor to the EU Special Representative for Sudan and South Sudan (2011-13), and from 2008 to 2009 to the International Civilian Representative in Kosovo.
Between 2001 and 2008 Dr. KOOPMANS worked as a barrister (advocaat) at the global law firm of Clifford Chance LLP, specializing in international litigation. In 2000 he advised Bosnia and Herzegovina at the United Nations in New York on negotiations on the International Criminal Court. He obtained Master’s degrees in law and in political science at Leiden University (1997) as well as a Master’s degree (1998) and a Doctorate (2007) at Oxford University, the latter for his thesis on Diplomatic Dispute Settlement (T.M.C. Asser Press, 2008). He also studied at Sciences Po Paris (1993), Harvard University (1995) and New York University (2000).
His book Negotiating Peace: A Guide to the Practice, Politics and Law of International Mediation was published by Oxford University Press in 2018. He has taught peace negotiation at the universities of Leiden and Aix-Marseille III.