18th Economic Forum
September 10-13, 2008, in Krynica Zdrój, Poland
12.09.2008
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Participation in the 18th Economic Forum in Krynica Zdrój between 10-13 September 2008 in a session organized by the Warsaw based think tank demosEUROPA – Centre for European Strategy in cooperation with the representation of the European Commission in Poland.
The session was devoted to two dimensions of the EU's neighborhood policy: The Eastern Partnership and the Union for the Mediterranean – complementary of mutually exclusive? The debate examined the fundamental tenets behind these new initiatives, methods of their implementation as well as strategic challenges and opportunities for relations with the countries included in the partnership.
The newest report produced by demosEUROPA entitled The European Union and its neighbourhood in a changing world, which defines a new strategic relationship with the Eastern and Southern neighbours, was also presented during the session.
Speakers:
Grażyna Bernatowicz, Under-Secretary of State, Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
John O’Rourke, Head of Unit D1 - European Neighbourhood Policy General Coordination, DG RELEX, European Commission
Alan Mayhew, Jean Monnet Professor & Professorial Fellow, University of Sussex
Janis Emmanouilidis, Stavros Costopoulos Research Fellow, ELIAMEP (Athens)
Paweł Świeboda, Director, demosEUROPA – Centre for European Strategy (chair)
The debate was linked to a project organized by Notre Europe and the Fondation pour l'Innovation politique (Fondapol), which brought together a group of European think tanks with the aim of making recommendations to the EU's next trio presidency including France, the Czech Republic and Sweden (July 2008 - December 2009). The “Think Global – Act European” (TGAE) project included 13 renowned think tanks including ELIAMEP, which contributed five papers to the final report. The other think tanks participating in the TGAE project were Bruegel, CEPS, CER, demosEUROPA, DIIS, ECFR, EPC, EUROPEUM, SIEPS, SWP.
The Economic Forum in Krynica has become an important spot on the political map of the world and probably the only one, where East meets West on such a large scale. The event is attended by more than 1800 guests from 60 countries including EU commissioners, state and government leaders, ministers, heads of central banks, stock exchanges and government agencies as well as representatives of business circles. For entrepreneurs, participation in the event is a proven form of promotion. Each year the event is reported by the major domestic and world-wide media. It has been dubbed Davos of Eastern Europe by the opinion-forming dailies such as Le Monde and Le Soir. The debates of the Forum cover a variety of issues. The Forum’s agenda includes more than 150 debates divided into 11 thematic fields: Macroeconomics, Business and Management, Fuels and Energy, New Economy, International Affairs and Security, Regional Policy vs. Globalization, State and Reforms, The EU and Its Neighbors, Regions, Society, Science and Culture.