After the success of the first lecture series in April/May 2006, a second series of lectures "Debate on Europe" is being launched to coincide with the start of the German EU presidency. It will address controversial topics in the European unification process that are also on the agenda of the Merkel government. The current situation doesn't simply require the advice of wise statesmen. This time round, philosophers and writers, artists and scientists, as well as representatives of civil society and the European Public Space will be more vigorously represented in the debate. The Europe of the future needs these people just as much as it needs European politicians and parties that aren't in the thrall of domestic political imperatives. The 50th anniversary of the Rome Treaties and the accession of Bulgaria and Romania also come during the term of the German Presidency. These two accessions will conclude the fifth expansion of the EU agreed in Athens in 2003.

These are good reasons for Frank-Walter Steinmeier to open the "Lectures on Europe" on January 14, together with his Greek colleague Dora Bakojannis and twice-over EU Commissioner Mario Monti. One week later, Maria Böhmer and Werner Schiffauer will be debating strategies for better integration of foreign citizens with a Russo-German writer, an Afro-German pop singer and a young Imam from Bavaria. On January 28, Günter Verheugen, Joseph E. Stiglitz and Hans Joachim Schellnhuber will address the issue of the extent to which Europe will be able to lay claim to a leadership role in global competition in the future and what significance climate protection will have. In February, we will be looking for memorial sites relating to a common European cultural memory with Pierre Nora, Gesine Schwan and Robert Traba. Almut Sh. Bruckstein, Nilüfer Göle and Tariq Ali will be highlighting the influence of Judaism and Islam on our cultural heritage, and we will conclude by following intellectual and literary cross-cultural mediators like Juri Andruchowytsch, Ilma Rakusa, Ilija Trojanow and Hans-Ulrich Obrist to the borders of Europe with the aim of getting a new view of our Continent.

If you would like to ask the speakers of the Allianz Lectures on questions about "Europe", you can do so via the website of the Süddeutsche Zeitung. In the discussion with the participants, the moderators - as far as possible - will present the questions on your behalf.