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Europe has established a reputation as the world’s largest aid donor, but there is still little consensus on which aid techniques work best and on how policymakers can better streamline EU-level and national aid efforts into a more coherent whole. Friends of Europe’s Development Policy Forum (DPF) was launched in 2007 to systematically address challenges in the area of development through lively debates and sharply written analyses. The DPF provides a regular platform for the full range of development stakeholders.
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Europe’s energy security and the global challenges of climate change mitigation and adaptation are rarely out of the headlines. Friends of Europe’s recently established Greening Europe Forum (GEF) is a multi-annual programme of activities focusing on the EU and global policies needed for a smart and efficient transition to a green economy. It aims to become the leading independent platform for information, knowledge and debate on Europe’s transition towards a new low-carbon, resource-efficient model of prosperity and economic development.
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Europe’s role on the global stage is under intense scrutiny in this post-Lisbon era. Friends of Europe has for more than a decade analysed the major economic, environmental and security issues that confront developed, emerging and developing nations in an inter-connected and globalised world. Our new Asia Programme studies and analyses Asia’s rise and assesses the ways this will have an impact on the EU. Europe’s relationship with China is reviewed under a 3-year Understanding China programme. An annual policy summit is held on Latin America. Other countries and regions covered include the Balkans, Russia, Turkey and transatlantic relations.
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Europe’s ability to compete in the global marketplace is one of the most crucial challenges of our time. Friends of Europe’s annual programme of international conferences places industrial change and adaptation at the forefront of its agenda. In the wake of the global financial crisis, 2009 saw the launch of a new partnership between Friends of Europe and the Financial Times, bringing together a core group of experts in the field of finance for a 12-month financial work programme.
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Perceptions of the EU’s contribution to the welfare of Europe’s 500m citizens are an increasingly vital element of the future viability of the European project. Friends of Europe has an ambitious programme of meetings, discussion and reports on healthcare, demographics, pensions, education and employment. Friends of Europe is doing much to help set the EU-level policy agenda on these issues.
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In the late 1990s, Friends of Europe built its reputation by identifying EU institutional reform a critical issue that would determine the course of European integration. Landmark events such as the 28-nation “Hearing from Europe” TV debate of 2003 highlighted the reform process and our activities track closely the political fortunes of the Constitutional and Lisbon treaties. An important dimension of this policy area is the EU budget, which will be the subject of a number of Friends of Europe debates in 2011.
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