The ANU Centre for European Studies is delighted to present this contribution to our Schuman Lecture Series, to be delivered by Ambassador of Germany to Australia, His Excellency Dr Thomas Fitschen. 

In this year’s Schuman Lecture, His Excellency Dr Thomas Fitschen will speak about the role of Germany as President of the Council of the European Union and the relationship of the Member States within the EU. In this role, Germany has engaged with the health, environmental and geopolitical challenges currently facing Europe and the world. His Excellency will reflect on this and on the meaning of EU membership in troubled times.

His Excellency Dr Thomas Fitschen is the Ambassador of Germany to Australia (since July 2019). Before coming to Australia he was the German Federal Foreign Office’s Special Representative for Cyber Foreign Policy and Cybersecurity. In 2015–2018, he was Director for the United Nations, Counter-Terrorism and International Cyber Policy. He joined the German Foreign Service in 1990. Ambassador Fitschen is a lawyer by training (University of Kiel, Germany) and holds a doctorate in international law from the University of Saarbrücken. He holds memberships in the German Society of International Law (DGIR), the European Society of International Law (ESIL) and the German United Nations Association (DGVN). Dr Fitschen publishes regularly on UN issues, international law and cultural property law, including in English.

This year's Schuman Lecture forms part of the new Jean Monnet project Liberal Democracy in Action (2020-2022), delivered with the support of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union. It is also the twenty-first lecture in our Schuman Lecture Series.

For guests unable to attend, or those preferring a virtual attendance, the lecture will be live streamed. Please follow the link below to join the Lecture: https://youtu.be/X6kRJjOKNHw  We would be grateful if you could register your attendance selecting the virtual attendance ticket during registration.