Solidarity and Austerity
2012 Brussels Think Tank Dialogue
31.01.2012, Brussels
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From left to right: Defraigne, Emmanouilidis, Herzog, Taylor, Merrit, Moisi
On 31 January 2012 ten leading Brussels-based think tanks, in cooperation with Agence Europe and Euractiv, held the 2012 Brussels Think Tank Dialogue to debate the European Union's forthcoming priorities and the overall strategic direction of European policy-making.
Under the overarching theme Solidarity and Austerity the think tanks had invited EU practitioners and experts to discuss the future of the EU, demonstrating their common goal of contributing to European policy-making and debate and coming up with concrete policy proposals.
The opening panel discussed the EU's priorities in 2012. Panelists included Pierre Defraigne, Executive Director Madariaga – College of Europe Foundation; Janis A. Emmanouilidis, Senior Policy Analyst and Head of Programme at the European Policy Centre; Philippe Herzog, President Confrontations Europe; Giles Merritt, Secretary General, Friends of Europe/Les amis de l’Europe; and Dominique Moïsi, Special Advisor, Institut français des relations internationales (IFRI). The panel was moderated by Paul Taylor, European Affairs Editor, Reuters.
This session was followed by five workshops, where participants debated issues related to a resource-efficient Europe, the social impact of the crisis, the future of the EU budget, solidarity and freedom of movement with respect to the Schengen debate, and the potentials of the Arab Spring as a springboard for EU foreign policy.
The result of the workshop debates were presented and discussed in a separate panel with representatives of the Danish and Cypriot EU presidencies. The panel included: Sergio Carrera, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS); Jo Coelmont, Senior Associate Fellow, Egmont; Thomas Fischer, Executive Director, Brussels Office, Bertelsmann Stiftung; Maïté Jauréguy-Naudin, Director of Centre for Energy, Institut français des relations internationales (IFRI); Andreas Mavroyiannis, Cypriot Deputy Minister for European Affairs; Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen, Permanent Representative of Denmark to the European Union; and Fabian Zuleeg, Chief Economist, European Policy Centre (EPC).
The final panel discussed the perspectives for the post-crisis EU. The panel included: Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament; Dimitrios Droutsas, Member of the European Parliament; Daniel Gros, Director, Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS); Danuta Hübner, Member of European Parliament; Volker Perthes, Director, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP); Jean Pisani-Ferry, Director, Bruegel; and Arif Havas Oegroseno, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg and to the European Union.
The 2012 Brussels Think Tank Dialogue was jointly organised by the Bertelsmann Stiftung, the Brussels European and Global Economic Laboratory (Bruegel), the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Confrontations Europe, the Egmont Institute, the European Policy Centre (EPC), Friends of Europe – Les amis de l’Europe, the Institut français des relations internationales (Ifri), Madariaga - College of Europe Foundation, and the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), in co-operation with Agence Europe and Euractiv.
The Brussels Think Tank Dialogues are annual policy forums during which participants critically reflect on the State of the Union and work together to develop analysis and recommendations to improve EU policies on a wide-range of issues. The Dialogues are designed to foster both large policy debates on overarching political issues during plenary sessions. They also provide participants with an opportunity for in-depth exchange on specific political issues during smaller workshops. The objective of this joint endeavour is to establish the leading dialogue platform for policy makers and scientific experts in Europe.
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