18.30 – 20.30, The Romanian Cultural Centre, 8th floor, 54-62 Regent Street, London W1B 5RE; Tel. 020 7439 4052, ext 102; e-mail: mail@ratiufamilyfoundation.com; Entry is free but booking is essential. The aim of this presentation is to discuss the process of regionalisation in the Black Sea area. Most of the literature on regions takes the existence of regions as given without asking how they come into being. I argue in this presentation that the Black Sea region is not a pre-given entity, but a construction of region-builders. For this paper, the role of three types of region builders is discussed, namely policy makers of the Black Sea countries, the European Union as an outside region builder, and transnational epistemic community. The process of region building has both an ideational component, reflecting the attempts to provide for the theoretical armature to imagine the region as a distinct entity having an internal coherence, as well as a material component, expressing the institutionalization of practical arrangements of regional cooperation. – Sorin Denca Sorin Denca is a first year PhD candidate at European Research Institute, University of Birmingham. Sorin’s research is on the comparative study of foreign policies of Hungary, Romania and Slovakia in the context of integration to the European Union. His general academic interest is on the study of the European Union, including theories of European integration, policy-making process, foreign and security policy; international relations, foreign policy analysis and security studies; comparative politics. Sorin Denca holds a BA in Political Science from the University of Sibiu, awarded in 2000, an MA in International Relations and European Integration from the National School of Political Studies and Public Administration, Bucharest, awarded in 2005, and a Postgraduate Certificate on European Studies from the University of Birmingham, awarded in 2005. Sorin has also published a couple of articles in Romanian journals such as ‘Romanian Journals of European Affairs’, ‘Sfera Politicii’ and ‘Monitor Strategic’. David Webster, Director of the Anglo-Romanian Economic and Political Forum, will chair the discussions. Organised by The Ratiu Foundation UK www.ratiufamilyfoundation.com