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	European Policy Summit report The Politics of the New Balkan Economy To the countries of the region, the prospect of EU membership is an important incentive to achieving political stability, which will also pay off in terms of economic development, as it makes the region more attractive to investors from abroad. Yet progress often seems frustratingly slow. In the opinion of many participants, it is up to the region’s governments to demonstrate the political will to push forward the reform process. A lengthy list of structural reforms must be tackled, and there are no short cuts, as future members must satisfy the same set of conditions as the existing members of the EU. Tuesday, December 07, 2004 Download a copy of the document in: EN Toby Johnson
	Summary of Debate - Café Crossfire L'Union européenne protège-t-elle ses citoyens? L'exemple des transports Les Amis de l’Europe réunissait un panel de choix à l’occasion du troisième débat dans la série des soirées françaises organisées en partenariat avec la Fondation Robert Schuman. Pour Jacques Barrot, la sécurité doit être l’un des fondements de l'Union européenne, position d’ailleurs partagée par les citoyens européens. La politique des transports renvoie à deux objectifs qu’il convient de différencier: la sûreté et la sécurité. Monday, December 06, 2004 Download a copy of the document in: FR Friends of Europe
	Summary of Debate - Policymakers' Dinner How to safeguard sustainable healthcare in the face of an ageing population? For all those at the Friends of Europe’s dinner-debate on safeguarding sustainable health care, this was the most stimulating discussion they had had on the subject for some time. The Alliance for Health and the Future’s Françoise Forette started the ball rolling by insisting that longevity was a privilege of developed countries and that higher life expectancy promoted economic growth. Other speakers strongly supported the idea that we should look at ageing as giving positive benefit to our society, and that a paradigm shift was needed in the way that ageing was viewed. This means that one of the most important aspects is to change society’s view that to be young is better than being old – “We need a change in psychology” was how one speaker put it. Most agreed on the need to fight age discrimination. Monday, November 22, 2004 Download a copy of the document in: EN Friends of Europe
	Summary of Debate - Café Crossfire Transatlantic and Global Trade Issues With just two weeks before the US elections, Friends of Europe welcomed Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy and Ambassador Robert Zoellick, United States Trade Representative, to a luncheon debate on transatlantic and global trade issues. Are transatlantic relations really on an all-time low? Can Europe and the US continue to rely on the most productive and positive relationship international relations has ever seen? For many, the debate took place at a crucial time in transatlantic relations. Monday, October 18, 2004 Download a copy of the document in: EN Friends of Europe
	Summary of Debate - Café Crossfire L'espace, un grand projet pour l'Europe L’espace et son impact sur la vie des citoyens européens étaient au centre du deuxième débat dans la série des soirées françaises organisées par Les Amis de l’Europe en partenariat avec la Fondation Robert Schuman. L’Europe spatiale s’est considérablement renforcée ces dernières années non seulement grâce à des réalisations concrètes telles que Galileo ou l’initiative GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) mais également grâce à des avancées institutionnelles non négligeables. La Commission européenne a en effet adopté, en novembre 2003, un Livre Blanc sur la politique spatiale européenne qui prévoit l’adoption d’un Programme Spatial Européen pour 2005 et définit le rôle et les responsabilités de l’UE. Monday, October 18, 2004 Download a copy of the document in: FR Friends of Europe
	Summary of Debate - Policymakers' Dinner What 'Big Idea' for the Barroso Commission? The upshot of the roundtable’s deliberations was in a sense simple; there is no single big idea that Mr Barroso will be able to champion. Instead, there are five messages that his commission should be hammering home. If these can be lodged in the public mind, the EU’s political stock will. This report reflects the highlights of the roundtable meeting to review priorities for the EU’s 2004-09 agenda. It also contains contributions from a number of Trustees of Friends of Europe. An unusual sample of EU political figures, policymakers and business leaders took part in the Roundtable, “What ‘Big Idea’ for the Barroso Commission?”, organised by Friends of Europe and EurActiv.com on October 15 at the Bibliothèque Solvay. Friday, October 15, 2004 Download a copy of the document in: EN Daphne Davies
	Joint Friends of Europe and Gallup Europe Poll Can EU hear me? "Can EU Hear Me?" is an unusual report. It takes a very original approach to the familiar problem of how the EU and its institutitons can better connect with Europe's citizens. It is part opinion poll, part survey or political leaders, and part study group findings. The first element of the report looks at the reasons for the current disenchantment about Europe, and decides that part of the blame lies with the EU’s Communications policy. "People don’t waste their time voting for useless things", said one opinion survey’s respondent, rather unkindly. Friday, October 01, 2004 Download a copy of the document in: EN Daphne Davies and Pamela Readhead
	Summary of Debate - Policymakers' Dinner Streamlining the European Employment Strategy The debate cleared up many misconceptions, and showed a perhaps surprising degree of consensus, as well as raising many intriguing issues. First, the European Employment Strategy is not to be confused with a European employment policy – the EU has no powers or ambitions to create any such thing. What European labour market legislation does is to set minimum standards, mainly to do with health and safety, and thus prevent unfair competition between different countries. Monday, September 27, 2004 Download a copy of the document in: EN Friends of Europe
	Summary of Debate - Café Crossfire REACH and the relaunched Lisbon Strategy The Friends of Europe opened its autumn programme with a lively meeting to discuss REACH, the controversial proposal for regulating chemicals. The packed debate heard from industry representatives, the European Commission, the European Parliament and NGOs, who all put strong views across on the effects of REACH on Lisbon’s goal of increased competitiveness. The first major topic was whether REACH could support industrial competition while still ensuring that the chemical industry contributed to sustainability. Wednesday, September 22, 2004 Download a copy of the document in: EN Friends of Europe
	Summary of Debate - Café Crossfire Les référendums peuvent-ils faire progresser l’Europe? Ce débat, qui a rassemblé quelque 120 personnes, inaugurait une nouvelle série de 'soirées françaises’. La question des référendums est particulièrement d'actualité puisque plusieurs Etats membres - la France, le Royaume-Uni, le Danemark, l'Irlande, l'Espagne et le Portugal - ont annoncé qu'ils tiendraient un référendum au cours des prochains mois pour approuver la Constitution européenne. Quant au Luxembourg, à la Belgique, et aux Pays-Bas, il est probable qu'ils fassent de même. Monday, September 20, 2004 Download a copy of the document in: FR Friends of Europe
	European Policy Summit report Turkey's EU End-Game? This conference offered a key moment to debate Turkey’s accession prospects before an audience of high-level opinion formers. The conference featured amongst others EU Commissioner Günter Verheugen, the Minister for Europe of the United Kingdom Denis MacShane and Ireland’s Minister of State for European Affairs Dick Roche. Thursday, June 17, 2004 Download a copy of the document in: EN John Chapman
	Summary of Debate - Café Crossfire Turkey and the European Union: Just Another Enlargement ? Dr. Kirsty Hughes analyses in this Friends of Europe’s working paper the implications of the Turkish membership of the EU for the Union itself. The paper, which was launched on the occasion of the 2004 European Policy Summit on “Turkey’s EU end-game?”, looks at both political and economic opportunities and challenges posed by Turkish accession. Thursday, June 17, 2004 Download a copy of the document in: EN Kirsty Hughes
	European Policy Summit report Outlook 2010: Sustainable Policies for a wider and greener Europe Top-level speakers took part in this lively and provocative debate, which focused on the wide range of issues confronting an enlarged European Union. The tensions between sustainable development, economic growth and competitiveness were explored in a neutral forum. Following his keynote address, Erkki Liikanen, the EU Commissioner for Enterprise and Information society, set an optimistic tone for debate: “This is the European burden. If you do not have a profitable economy, you cannot have job creation and you cannot protect the environment. We must also guarantee the social pillar,” he said. “Social exclusion is expensive and it is wrong. We must get the balance right. We need to defend our values, which is difficult in a globalised economy. But if we play our cards right, we can do it.” Thursday, June 03, 2004 Download a copy of the document in: EN John Chapman
	Joint Friends of Europe and Gallup Europe Poll Interim report and poll: Can EU Hear Me ? The 'Can EU Hear Me' survey was laid out as a thought-provoking, conceptual brainstorming frame intended to provide a structured environment for contributing expert opinion on a wide range of topics. Questions covered general EU-related communication issues, cooperation with external organizations and country specific problems. Consisting of 25 open-ended questions/problem formulation it was aimed to collect professional’s freely expressed flow of ideas and not definite answers that characterize opinion polls with strict, pre-determined, close-ended dimensions. What are the lessons to be learned so far from the first stage of Can EU Hear Me? The single most important issue is that the European government will have to face is an urgent challenge, expressed by both politicians and communication participants as perhaps the biggest communication deficiency in EU history. Tuesday, June 01, 2004 Download a copy of the document in: EN Gallup Europe
	Summary of Debate - Café Crossfire Where is Europe's single financial services market? There is no quick fix! That was the clear message resulting from the latest Café Crossfire, held on May 24, which debated the future for a single market in retail financial services. There were differences of opinion as to the way forward, but as the debate progressed there was a whiff of compromise in the air. The European Commission was determined to listen to advice and it appeared that a more pragmatic approach could lead to progress in areas where there was a proven business case. Monday, May 24, 2004 Download a copy of the document in: EN Friends of Europe
	Summary of Debate - Atlantic Rendez-Vous Do Europe and the US have the political will to re-launch Doha? The first issue under discussion was the relaunch of the WTO Doha Round. If anyone had wondered about contrasting EU and US trade negotiating positions, this first “Atlantic Rendez-Vous” clearly highlighted the differences. The EU is multilateralist, and wears its concerns about development on its sleeve, while the US takes a more bullish approach in pushing its agenda. Monday, May 17, 2004 Download a copy of the document in: EN Daphne Davies
	European Policy Summit report Russia and Europe Held just before the Moscow EU-Russia Summit, Friends of Europe’s latest European Policy Summit focussed on ‘Russia and Europe’. Throughout the conference, it was clear that Russia saw itself as part of Europe, and it was gratifying to hear Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Alexander Gorban describing the EU and Russia as “good natural neighbours and real partners”. Nevertheless the conference showed there was work to be done. Several panellists, from the European Commission and industry, expressed concerns about the “strategic relationship” while emphasising the benefits to be gained from a successful partnership. On the Russian side, while there was no declared interest in joining the EU, it did not want to be considered as just another candidate for the EU’s ‘neighbourhood policy’. Reasoning that it had undergone considerable change, it wanted the EU to treat its most prominent eastern neighbour as an equal partner. Friday, May 14, 2004 Download a copy of the document in: EN Friends of Europe
	European Policy Summit report Harnessing the Power of Enlargement Even though the topic of the day was an enlarged community, there was insufficient space at La Bibliothèque Solvay to accommodate all those interested in the latest Friends of Europe European Policy Summit. Enlargement guru Günter Verheugen set the tone by placing definitive restrictions on future enlargements, declaring that the process was finished for the time being. After reviewing the status of Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Turkey, Verheugen declared “And that’s it!” Thursday, May 13, 2004 Download a copy of the document in: EN John Chapman
	Summary of Debate - Café Crossfire Will the EU of 25 have a bigger role in world affairs? The combination of European panellists and American animators made for a spirited debate on whether an enlarged Europe would, or was even capable of playing a bigger role in world affairs. Several speakers looked ahead and saw that a larger, united Europe was needed to act as a counter balance to emerging power blocks. One of the main issues was whether the EU could ever put its house in order to build common policies and whether it could summon up the political will to do so. The speakers agreed that there were some areas, such as trade and monetary matters where the EU was developing common policies, but the main sticking point was foreign policy, and both speakers and animators agreed that Member Countries needed to take the leap to agree to work together on this. While the animators were unsure that this was possible, the panellists took a more pragmatic approach. ‘We have to make it work, so we will!’ they said. Monday, April 26, 2004 Download a copy of the document in: EN Friends of Europe
	Friends of Europe discussion paper Salvaging the Wreckage of Europe's Constitution: Political Options for 2004 This paper features the views of some of the most prominent names on the EU political scene. Contributors to the paper, all of whom are members of Friends of Europe’s Board of Trustees, include Giuliano Amato, Michel Barnier, Enrique Baron, Carl Bildt, Elmar Brok, John Bruton and Uffe Elleman-Jensen. Contributors were asked to address five key questions: How long, and how well, can we muddle through without a constitutional treaty? What new multi-speed arrangements (e.g., two-speed EU) can be envisaged? · What is the outlook for budgetary policy? From CFSP to the €, what are the strategic implications of the constitutional impasse? Will the need for survival tactics eclipse the need for EU reform? Monday, March 22, 2004 Download a copy of the document in: EN Friends of Europe
	Summary of Debate - Café Crossfire Who gains from a 25-nation financial marketplace? Listening to the latest Friends of Europe Café Crossfire, it soon became apparent that everyone stood to gain from a 25-nation financial marketplace … if the potential for growth could be realised. David Wright waxed enthusiastically about enlargement and its potential impact on the financial services markets. He acknowledged that, due to the size of the capital markets in the Central and East European countries, it would not be an easy ride but he stressed that the growth dividend was there. For Wright, it was a win-win situation. Gyorgy Suranyi agreed with that view but called for the EU to be more pragmatic in its dealings with its new members. He argued that the odds were stacked against them both in terms of receiving assistance to help deepen their capital markets and in the EU’s approach to their entry to monetary union. Tuesday, March 16, 2004 Download a copy of the document in: EN Friends of Europe
	Summary of Debate - Policymakers' Dinner How can Europe's SME market benefit from freer energy competition? The EU’s efforts to liberalise electricity and gas sales and break long-held national monopolies in Europe have at last been successful. But it has been a gradual process, with major corporations the prime beneficiaries in most European countries. What now is the outlook for SMEs and even private energy consumers ? The opening of the electricity and gas market puts SMEs for a challenge. With less than four months to go before the opening up of all non-household customers by July 2004, there are still several stumbling blocks to overcome. Monday, March 15, 2004 Download a copy of the document in: EN Friends of Europe
	Summary of Debate - Café Crossfire Is the €'s Stability Pact really dead? No one on the panel agreed that the Stability and Growth Pact was dead at the latest Friends of Europe Café Crossfire. In fact, the three wise men put up a spirited defence, arguing that the Pact needed to be seen in a broader context. Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, member of the executive board at the European Central Bank argued that the ambitious endeavour had performed well in difficult circumstances, while André Sapir from the European Commission’s Group of Policy Advisors bemoaned the attention paid to deficit rather than sustainability and growth. The third panellist Franz-Christoph Zeitler, member of the executive board at Deutsche Bundesbank, called for improvements in the Pact’s implementation and the legal framework. Monday, February 16, 2004 Download a copy of the document in: EN Friends of Europe
	Summary of Debate - Café Crossfire Is 'sustainable consumption' the new policy challenge? Sustainable consumption is a buzzword today that resonates across a broad spectrum of stakeholders, from grassroots environmental and consumer organisations to international level initiatives; from the offices of EU-level policymakers to the boardrooms of multinational corporations. But what is the “buzz” all about? For policymakers, it is an important goal that would see industrialised countries reining in on wasteful and environmentally hazardous levels of consumption. For those in developing countries, the concept is sometimes viewed as a stumbling block to much-needed economic development. Monday, February 02, 2004 Download a copy of the document in: EN Friends of Europe
	Summary of Debate - Policymakers' Dinner What contribution can the telecoms sector make to Europe's economic revival? The new regulatory framework provides a good platform for more competition in Europe’s telecoms sector. But regulators should tread carefully and allow operators to focus on delivering innovative content. The European Commission’s Fabio Colasanti underlined the continuing importance to the European Union of the telecoms sector. He called for consistent application of the framework and predictability of its impact for industry. Clive Ansell, BT, said people should not expect miracles of this sector, though all European stakeholders should develop a common vision of its future. Malcolm Harbour, Member of the European Parliament, agreed Europe needs a telecoms vision, while calling for solutions to copyright and competition issues. Monday, January 26, 2004 Download a copy of the document in: EN Friends of Europe
	Summary of Debate - Café Crossfire Will the EU's chemicals strategy build consumer confidence? Most people now believe that the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) proposal is a step forward for the European Union. But doubts still remain over its workability as well as consumer confidence in the process. The European Commission’s Rolf Annerberg thought REACH would enhance chemical safety, improve the public’s image of the industry, foster innovative new chemicals and protect human health and the environment. Unilever’s Ralph Kugler said his company believed the proposal set a good framework for sustainable development and would build strong partnerships between all stakeholders. Monday, January 19, 2004 Download a copy of the document in: EN Friends of Europe