AN INDEPENDENT THINK TANK FOR EU POLICY ANALYSIS AND DEBATE
Friends of Europe (FoE) is Brussels’ liveliest think-tank, aiming to stimulate new thinking on the future of Europe and broaden the EU debate. It is non-profit, completely independent with no national or political bias and a membership base that is as youthful as it is influential.
Friends of Europe is pioneering a new approach to promoting and stimulating new thinking and debate on Europe's future. We seek to enliven the often technocratic treatment of EU policy issues, and to harness modern audio-visual satellite communications so as to project the EU debate beyond the confines of Brussels.
5 YEARS of Friends of Europe ..
Friends of Europe was founded in 1999, and our first 5 years have been marked by our readiness to bring the cut-and thrust approach of U.S. think tanks to the traditionally more staid Brussels scene.
Our goal has been to take discussion of the key issues confronting the EU outside the charmed circle of the Brussels elite by linking up with major think tanks and media in Europe’s national capitals.
A heartening result has been the presence at our events of more and more younger participants from the ranks of the EU institutions and from journalism, business and civil society.
KEY ISSUES - KEY PUBLICATIONS
Friends of Europe believes that the business of a think tank is to act as a trailblazer in key policy areas, and thus to encourage new thinking and fresh ideas. Its hard hitting reports and analyses at times run counter to the approach championed by some EU officials or industry groups. Being called Friends of Europe doesn't mean being a mouthpiece of the EU institutions!
Two issues have formed a leitmotif of our debates and publications: reform of EU-level decision-making and ways of improving the EU’s information and communication. These themes underpinned a number of ground breaking FoE publications.
In addition, Friends of Europe’s activities cover a wide range of topics and aim to take stock of the state of play in many of Europe's key policy areas. FoE’s style and ethos is to provide an open forum for EU and national policymakers, business leaders and NGOs. As well as appealing to EU policymakers, our events are popular with the youth, MEPs, government representatives, researchers and professional consultants who do so much to help shape legislative initiatives.
WHY WE CAll OURSELVES Les Amis de l'Europe ?
Maybe it's a question of language, but the EU Policy debate in brussels often seems an Anglo-Saxon preserve. That's why Friends of Europe also labels itself Les Amis de l'Europe and why we work closely with partner think tanks across Europe.
A growing proportion of our Café Crossfire events are conducted in French as well as English. Top French political and business leaserd use these occasions to set out their priorities and their thinking to the influential international audiences who participate in our events.
SPARKING THE EU DEBATE BEYOND BRUSSELS
Waning voter interest in the European Parliament electoins is just one sympton of Brussels' isolation from the real world.
Friends of Europe sees the whole of the EU as the sounding board for new policy ideas. That's why we've focussed on widening our activities to include partnership conferences across Europe. In all, some 40 European think tanks make up our EU-wide network.
TAKING THE PULSE OF EU OPINION
Friends of Europe and Gallup Europe have joined forces to create an innovative new approach to the EU policy debate.
Gallup Europe's surveys of opinion in key areas of EU policymaking will be fuelling Friends of Europe events and publications with the views of stakeholders and independent experts.
The aim of this unique collaboration is to widen the EU policy debate beyond Brussels by bringing together the opinions of leaders in business, NGOs and civil society, politics and the Media. Thanks to the expertise of Gallup Europe, these views are scientifically analysed and presented, with trendlines in relation to earlier findings that form the basis of regular Friends of Europe discussions and reports.
INFORMAL AND LIVELY
Our “Café Crossfire” evening debates, “European Policy Summit” international conferences and “Press and Policymakers” dinner debates at the historic Bibliothèque Solvay in the heart of Brussels are unique opportunities. They are often adversarial as well as being informal and lively. They offer ample opportunities for networking and off-the-record discussions with policymakers, corporate leaders and top EU officials.
Through our regular “Atlantic Rendez-Vous” satellite-linked policy debates between Brussels and Washington DC, Friends of Europe’s network now extends to specialist audiences on the other side of the Atlantic.
FoE is dominated by neither academic nor corporate opinion. To stimulate public interest in the topics under discussion, the press is actively involved in many of FoE’s activities. Our goal is to inform a wider audience across Europe about the issues that will decide the future of Europe. Our Hearing from Europe week-long satellite debate in June 2003 brought together political, business and civil society leaders in 28 countries, and was broadcast by 19 European TV stations.
MAKING SENSE OF EUROPE'S DEBATE
European Union Policy issues are complex and, to many people, obscure. And that's a risk factor that policymakers and lobbyists are increasingly aware of. Friends of Europe places great emphasis on cuting through technocratic jargon and going to the heart of political issues in a style that is accessible to all. Wheter it be a Café Crossfire evening debate, one of our major European Policy Summit International confernces or a Friends of Europe report, the language is crystal clear.
OUR NETWORK
Friends of Europe’s activities are directed by a Board of Trustees that is chaired by Viscount Etienne Davignon and made up of senior figures contributing to the process of European integration who include Jean-Luc Dehaene, Giuliano Amato, Javier Solana, Michel Barnier, Carl Bildt, Pascal Lamy, Karel Van Miert and Baron Daniel Janssen. The trustees also contribute to FoE publications such as “Salvaging the Wreckage of the European Constitution”, “Blueprint for a Reform and Getting the Message Across”.
To stimulate the debate across Europe, FoE works in partnership with leading national think tanks and has co-organised events in Paris, London and Madrid. Through our monthly “Atlantic Rendez-Vous” satellite-linked policy debates, Friends of Europe’s network now extends to specialist audiences in Washington.
La Bibliothèque Solvay
Leopold Park,
rue Belliard 137,
B-1040 Brussels.
Tel.: 32 2 737 91 45
Fax: 32 2 738 75 97
e-mail : info@friendsofeurope.org.