Conversation starter

Feature photo: Hertensteiner Talks 2018

It should be obvious to everyone that the preparations for a veritable conversation marathon are very extensive. But many of the speakers and moderators have been preparing their respective discussion groups for a long time.

And just before the current talks begin, both levels will be connected again. The Hertensteiner talks are a purely voluntary affair and are carried out casually by everyone involved. And as with other events, there are always changes before the start. This time there were more changes in advance than usual, so we had to put all the reserves that had been planned months ago into the field right at the start of the talks - which will make the talks this year even more exciting.

Today, less than two days before the start, we had to make another change to the process. This change affects the end of the discussions, which, like the beginning and the planned course, must be regulated in advance. Right from the start, the Hertensteiner talks always end with a social gathering and, for the tireless ones, with a finale in the Heilbronn wine village. This year the wine village had already ended in advance, so a combination of the Europa Ball and talks was considered as a “substitute” - two birds with one stone, so to speak. It quickly became clear that this couldn't be done at the same time and so the idea of ​​a European party was born.

But now we will offer our participants an “in-house solution”, because it has now become clear that even the party is a little too much for many participants, which is after a good eight hours of planned discussion time and the previous discussions experiences had been almost forgotten. And so we offer all participants to meet at the end of the discussion rounds in the Parkhotel's brewery for dinner together and then finally end the evening in the lofty heights of Bar 10 / 42.

This conclusion fits in quite well with the beginning of the discussions, which begin on Friday evening in Bar 10 / 42 for the organizers, who can then sit down in person for the first time to complete the final preparations - hopefully without any further surprises; This is also part of the charm of the Hertenstein conversations.

But the participants in the discussion are now also involved in the discussions. John Marsia and Walther Heipertz have already given the participants their first offers for the discussion groups “The 2024 European Parliament elections. On the way to the Constituent Assembly?" and "Europe now – Encounter" made available. The third discussion group of the morning will be from Michael George Link MdB disputed this and the topic was “EU and USA – What happens next with transatlantic relations?”

This means that three of the four main federalist currents have their say at the beginning, which also address three essential challenges of the European Union: Europe's connection to the West, a European constitution and the Union citizen itself.

As you can see, the Hertenstein talks are in full swing right from the start and will continue to become more explosive throughout the day - by the end at around 18.00 p.m., most of the challenges that currently exist in Europe will have been addressed and at least discussed.

If I have now aroused your interest, then you will find it the current program right here.