Alexandre Alaphilippe
Executive Director
Brussels
Biography
Alexandre Alaphilippe is the executive director and co-founder of the EU DisinfoLab. Since 2017, he has coordinated work on some of the organisation's largest investigations into Information Operations linked to Russia, India and China, and is a member of a number of working groups in Brussels and Washington DC linked to platform regulation, transatlantic relations, and hybrid threats, where he emphasises the role of civil society in maintaining democratic values. He has published papers for the Brookings Institution and his work has been featured on CNN, BBC, Le Monde and Politico.
Organisation
EU DisinfoLab
Speaker session
Opening session - Vote for the Future of Europe: free, fair and resilient elections to the European Parliament 2024
- Public web-streamed session
- Public web-streamed session
Topic: As the cornerstone of any democracy, free, fair and resilient elections are essential to preserve the confidence of citizens in the Union and its institutions, and in ensuring representation and accountability.
The European parliamentary elections in 2024 will enable citizens to shape, in the most direct way, the future of the Union for the next 5 years. They are organised by the 27 EU Member States and the European institutions working together, to include over 400 million voters and elect future MEPs from tens of thousands of candidates.
The opening session of the high-level event will discuss the importance of supporting democracy, including high turnout and inclusive participation in the elections to the European Parliament. The session will also address key challenges around the next elections to the European Parliament, addressing topics such as elections’ integrity, disinformation, interference including by third countries and how technology has transformed the conduct of democratic processes.
Opening address by Věra Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency
SPEAKERS:
- Věra Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency
- María Lledó, Secretary General for the European Union, Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation
- Charles Goerens, Member of the European Parliament
- Vasco Alves Cordeiro, President of the European Committee of the Regions (remotely)
- Federica Mogherini, Rector of the College of Europe
- Franziska Schweitzer, Young European voter
MODERATOR: Florence Ranson
Vasco Alves Cordeiro
President of the European Committee of the Regions
Biography
Vasco Alves Cordeiro is the President of the European Committee of the Regions since June 2022.
Born in the Azores, an autonomous region of Portugal and an EU outermost region, on 28 March 1973, Vasco Alves Cordeiro, lawyer, married and father of two children, is a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores.
A graduate in law from the University of Coimbra and with a postgraduate degree in regional law from the University of Lisbon and University of the Azores, Vasco Alves Cordeiro began his professional career as a lawyer in the Azores in 1995 where he practiced until 2003.
In 1996, he was elected for the first time as a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores for the Socialist Party, and led the socialist group in the regional parliament between 2000 and 2003.
Since then, he has held several positions in the regional executive, including Regional Secretary of Economy (2008-2012), Regional Secretary of the Presidency (2004-2008), responsible for European and External Affairs, and Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Fisheries (2003-2004).
In 2012, he was elected President of the Regional Government of the Azores for the first time, a position for which he was re-elected in 2016, and, in that capacity, represented the region at European and international level as a member of the European Committee of the Regions, and organisations such as the Conference of Peripheral and Maritime Regions of Europe, the Conference of Presidents of the EU Outermost Regions, the Assembly of the Regions of Europe, R20 – Regions of Climate Action, and in the framework of relations with countries that host Azorean communities, including the USA, Canada and Brazil. From 2014 to 2020, he was President of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe.
Cordeiro has been the leader of the Socialist Party of the Azores since January 2013. A strong supporter of the urgent need to tackle the issue of citizens' support for the European project, Vasco Alves Cordeiro has also dedicated himself to strengthening social, economic and territorial cohesion in the European Union, advocating for European policies that genuinely correspond to the interests and ambitions of citizens and strengthen the role of regions as bastions of the Union's internal democracy and its economic and social progress.
Member of the European Committee of the Regions since 2013 and, previously, from 2004 to 2008 as an alternate member, Cordeiro was the First Vice-President of the institution from February 2020 to June 2022.
Speaker session
Opening session - Vote for the Future of Europe: free, fair and resilient elections to the European Parliament 2024
- Public web-streamed session
- Public web-streamed session
Topic: As the cornerstone of any democracy, free, fair and resilient elections are essential to preserve the confidence of citizens in the Union and its institutions, and in ensuring representation and accountability.
The European parliamentary elections in 2024 will enable citizens to shape, in the most direct way, the future of the Union for the next 5 years. They are organised by the 27 EU Member States and the European institutions working together, to include over 400 million voters and elect future MEPs from tens of thousands of candidates.
The opening session of the high-level event will discuss the importance of supporting democracy, including high turnout and inclusive participation in the elections to the European Parliament. The session will also address key challenges around the next elections to the European Parliament, addressing topics such as elections’ integrity, disinformation, interference including by third countries and how technology has transformed the conduct of democratic processes.
Opening address by Věra Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency
SPEAKERS:
- Věra Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency
- María Lledó, Secretary General for the European Union, Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation
- Charles Goerens, Member of the European Parliament
- Vasco Alves Cordeiro, President of the European Committee of the Regions (remotely)
- Federica Mogherini, Rector of the College of Europe
- Franziska Schweitzer, Young European voter
MODERATOR: Florence Ranson
Gunta Anca
Vice-president
Riga
Biography
Organisation
European Disability Forum
Speaker session
Opening session - Vote for the Future of Europe: free, fair and resilient elections to the European Parliament 2024
- Public web-streamed session
- Public web-streamed session
Topic: As the cornerstone of any democracy, free, fair and resilient elections are essential to preserve the confidence of citizens in the Union and its institutions, and in ensuring representation and accountability.
The European parliamentary elections in 2024 will enable citizens to shape, in the most direct way, the future of the Union for the next 5 years. They are organised by the 27 EU Member States and the European institutions working together, to include over 400 million voters and elect future MEPs from tens of thousands of candidates.
The opening session of the high-level event will discuss the importance of supporting democracy, including high turnout and inclusive participation in the elections to the European Parliament. The session will also address key challenges around the next elections to the European Parliament, addressing topics such as elections’ integrity, disinformation, interference including by third countries and how technology has transformed the conduct of democratic processes.
Opening address by Věra Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency
SPEAKERS:
- Věra Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency
- María Lledó, Secretary General for the European Union, Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation
- Charles Goerens, Member of the European Parliament
- Vasco Alves Cordeiro, President of the European Committee of the Regions (remotely)
- Federica Mogherini, Rector of the College of Europe
- Franziska Schweitzer, Young European voter
MODERATOR: Florence Ranson