3-4 juillet 2007 • Événement •
On Tuesday the 3rd of July and Wednesday the 4th of July, The Thomas More Institute will welcome students of the College of Arts and Sciences of the Xavier University (Ohio, USA), who will be in Paris on a study-trip with Dr Steven Frankel, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Dr John Fairfield (Chair, History Department) and Dr Gene Beaupré (Director for Government Relations). On this visit, the Thomas More Institute organizes two conferences about:
Politics and Religion in France : History and Current Issues
On Tuesday the 3th of July, 10h-12h am
The aim of the conference is to offer a quick overview of the religious situation in France, and especially to appreciate the place of Islam within the French political system. But, generally speaking, the question is to understand the French view of religious freedom, so far from the American one.
Speaker : Guillaume de Thieulloy, 34 years old, a parliamentary assistant, PhD in Political sciences. He received the price Raymond Aron in 2002. He is the author of Jaques Maritain, le Chevalier de l’absolu (Gallimard, 2005), an intellectual biography of Jacques Maritain, a XXth century catholic philosopher, and Antihumanisme intégral? (Pierre Tequi éditeur, 2006), an essay on this philosopher’s political and theological thinking.
Lobbying in France: A Developing Sector in a Reluctant Environment
On wednesday the 4th of July, 10h-12h am
Interaction between the private sector and political institutions / political decision makers has always been viewed suspiciously in France. This obviously reflects on lobbying activities and explains the lack of legal framework regulating this sector. However, lobbying has gained in scope and importance over the past few years to the extent that initiatives have been taken to regulate an existing but not recognized activity. For example, Patrick Beaudouin and Arlette Grosskost, members of the French Parliament, proposed a resolution to register lobbying groups and Jean-Paul Charié is to publish, in October 2007, a blue book aiming at promoting and managing lobbying activities. If adopted, those texts will provide the lobbying sector with a legal framework and the opportunity to openly develop and to deepen its activity.
Speaker: Philippe Maze-Sencier, 36 years old, Director, APCO Worldwide’s French office. He joined APCO’s Paris office in October 2006, from the Political Affairs department of the European Aerospace Defence and Space company (EADS). Prior to joining EADS, Philippe had been with APCO since 2001. Working from APCO’s Brussels and Paris offices, Philippe was involved in a number of pan-European public affairs and strategic communications campaigns in the pharmaceutical sector, for energy clients, with public-private partnerships as well as for governments and in the field of human rights. Philippe has also worked for the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights in Geneva and at the Delegation of the European Commission in Washington D.C. He holds an MSc in International Relations from Georgetown University and an MA in Law from Cambridge University and is fluent in French, English and German.