IKV organised the Marmara Conference on European Studies in cooperation with Marmara University Institute of European Studies on 7-8 February 2020. This year's conference, under the theme “Discussing Europe: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" was dedicated to Professor Dominik Lasok who lectured at the Institute between 1987 and 1996.

IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu delivered the first opening speech of the conference with a special mention to the current state of Turkey-EU relations underlining that both Turkey and the EU needed each other. Delivering the second opening speech, Founding Director of the Institute of European Studies and IKV Vice-Chairman, Professor Halûk Kabaalioğlu informed the participants on the history of the Institute and the valuable contributions made by Professor Lasok. Professor Kabaalioğlu pointed out the importance of Lasok’s work during his time at the Institute and expressed his gratitude to Professor Lasok.

Following the opening speeches, President of Monckton Chambers and Professor Dominik Lasok’s son, Dr. Paul Lasok took the floor. From the European Coal Steel Community and the European Economic Community to the present day, Dr Lasok delivered a keynote speech touching upon processes the EU has undergone. Referring to the Brexit, Lasok shared his views about political fragmentations within the EU and the future of the EU. He stated that both the UK and the EU were seriously affected by Brexit, and the situation also complicated the future pace of EU integration.

Following the opening speeches, Turkish and foreign academics presented their insights throughout simultaneous sessions. On the first day, European Security and Defence Policy, Turkey-EU Association Law, Brexit, rise of the anti-immigration tendencies in Europe, populism and Euroscepticism, the refugee issue, the Turkey-EU Customs Union, the EU's Trade strategy as well as the Banking Union were discussed.

On the second day of the conference, security-oriented policies on migration in the EU, ethical debates on artificial intelligence, the EU's common energy policy, EU-China economic relations, Turkey-EU-US trilateral relations, the Balkans, lastly lobbying activities of Turkey in the EU accession process were discussed.

At the closing session, which was chaired by Professor Münevver Cebeci from Marmara University, Professor Thomas Diez from Tubingen University delivered a presentation on the EU's role as a normative power in the world.