About us

Our Team & Governance

Board of Trustees

Monica Frassoni
Monica Frassoni

President of the European Alliance to Save Energy, former co-president of the European Green Party, former member of the European Parliament and Trustee of Friends of Europe

Show more information on Monica Frassoni

Monica Frassoni is an Italian politician who previously served as the Co-President of the European Green Party. Prior to that, during her time as Member of the European Parliament, she was Co-Chair of the European Greens–European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament. She also served for ten years as an officer of the Greens group in the European Parliament and was Secretary-General of the Young European Federalists. In 2010, she co-founded the European Alliance to Save Energy, an organisation which aims to promote and advocate energy savings and a new energy model.

Štefan Füle
Štefan Füle

Chairman of the Administrative Board of the Czech China Chamber of Cooperation, former special envoy to the OSCE and the Western Balkans, former EU commissioner for enlargement and European neighbourhood policy and Trustee of Friends of Europe

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Štefan Füle is a Czech politician and diplomat who currently serves as the Czech Special Envoy to the OSCE and the Western Balkans. Having started his career in the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he worked as Czech Ambassador to Lithuania and to the UK, as well as becoming Czech Permanent Representative to NATO. In 2010, he became the EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy where he was instrumental in setting up and developing the Eastern Partnership with six countries in Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus.

Photo of Ana Gomes
Ana Gomes

Former member of the European Parliament and Trustee of Friends of Europe

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An established and experienced diplomat, Ana Gomes has cemented a reputation as a strident supporter and defender of democracy, human rights, social justice and the rule of law. She has previously been involved in the EU Middle East Peace Process and has led several EU election observation missions in Africa and South-East Asia. Gomes is also a vocal critic of the maladministration of EU law by multinational corporations to minimise tax costs and the negative impact this has on European citizens, governance and society.

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Rose Gottemoeller

Steven C. Házy Lecturer at Stanford University

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Rose Gottemoeller is the Steven C. Házy Lecturer at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and its Center for International Security and Cooperation. Before joining Stanford, Gottemoeller was the deputy secretary-general of NATO. Prior to NATO, she served for nearly five years as the under secretary for arms control and international security at the United States Department of State, advising the Secretary of State on arms control, nonproliferation and political-military affairs. While assistant secretary of state for arms control, verification and compliance, she was the chief US negotiator of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) with the Russian Federation.

Sylvie Goulard
Sylvie Goulard

Former second deputy governor of the Bank of France, author of “Goodbye Europe” and Trustee of Friends of Europe

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During the pandemic, Sylvie Goulard was appointed by the World Health Organization to serve as a member of the Pan-European Commission on Health and Sustainable Development in order to ensure that health tops the political agenda. Goulard is the former French minister of the armed forces, the second woman ever to hold the head position and has previously served as member of the European Parliament, where she addressed issues related to fighting poverty and advocating for gender equality in European institutions. Goulard began her career as a diplomat in the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Elisabeth Guigou
Elisabeth Guigou

President of the Anna Lindh Foundation and former French Minister

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Elisabeth Guigou is president of the Anna Lindh Foundation, a network of civil society organisations dedicated to promoting intercultural dialogue in the Mediterranean region. Before this appointment, Guigou served as French Minister of European Affairs, member of the European Parliament, and member of the French National Assembly, among numerous other posts. In addition to this, Guigou was the first female to be appointed Minister of Justice in France, where she distinguished herself for her fight for a more independent justice system.

Connie Hedegaard
Connie Hedegaard (ex officio)

Co-Chair of the Africa Europe Foundation Strategy Group on Energy and former EU Commissioner for Climate Action and Chair of KR Foundation

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Connie Hedegaard holds several leading positions in support of a low-carbon and green economy. She was appointed Lead of the Mission on “Adaptation to Climate Change including Societal Transformation” for Horizon Europe and is also the chair of the Board for the KR Foundation, a Danish climate and sustainability foundation. Hedegaard was also the European Commissioner for Climate Action from 2010 to 2014, during which she led the negotiations towards the adoption of the 2030 Climate and Energy Framework and the 2050 Roadmap for moving to a low carbon economy, whilst also representing the EU in international climate negotiations.

Photo of Mo Ibrahim
Mo Ibrahim

Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Africa-Europe Foundation, Founder and Chairman of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Founding Chairman of Satya Capital Limited and Founder of Mobile Systems International (MSI) and Celtel International

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Sudanese-born Mo Ibrahim built his fortune in telecommunications, landing him a place on the Forbes 2011 Billionaire list. One of his many successful ventures was Celtel International, operating as one of Africa’s leading mobile telephone companies which pioneered mobile services in the continent. In 2006, he established the Mo Ibrahim Foundation in order to support good governance and exceptional leadership on the African continent. His approach is two-fold: to reward responsible leaders through the annual Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, and to highlight countries with good governance through the Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG). In shedding light on democracy and human rights in African nations, Ibrahim aims to re-brand Africa and change the perceptions many have of the continent.

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Toomas Hendrik Ilves

Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Stanford University and former president of the Republic of Estonia

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Toomas Hendrik Ilves is an Estonian politician and currently Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Stanford University. After many years living and working in the United States, Ilves became Ambassador of Estonia to the United States. Later, he served as Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the People’s Party. Having been Member of the European Parliament, Ilves was elected as the fourth President of the Republic of Estonia in 2006, a position which he fulfilled for a decade.

baron daniel janssen
Baron Daniel Janssen

Member of the Executive Committee of the Trilateral Commission and former president of the Board of Directors of Solvay

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Baron Daniel Janssen is a Belgian businessman. Having worked at the Union Chimique Belge as an engineer, he successively became Director of Research and Development and then President of the Executive Committee. Afterwards, he became CEO and then President of the Board of Directors of Solvay. Additionally, Janssen is a member of the Executive Committee of the Trilateral Commission.

Anna König Jerlmyr
Anna König Jerlmyr

Former Mayor of Stockholm and former member of the Swedish Riksdag, Trustee of Friends of Europe

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Anna is Mayor of Stockholm and Chair of the City Executive Board. She has a background in economics and communications, and previously served as a member of the Swedish Riksdag. Upon entering the Stockholm City Council, she was appointed Vice-Mayor for Social Affairs and Chair of Stockholm’s Police Authority. She served as Opposition Vice-Mayor representing the Moderate Party. In addition to her role as Mayor, Anna is President of the European city network EUROCITIES and sits on the steering committee of the global climate network C40.

Strategic Leadership

Photo of Geert Cami
Geert Cami

Co-Founder and Secretary General

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Geert Cami co-founded Friends of Europe, the action-oriented think tank, in 1999. As Secretary General, Geert mainly deals with the strategic development of Friends of Europe, he coordinates the work of the high-level Boards involved in the governance of the organisation and chairs the Leadership meetings. He oversees both the financial health and the successful running of the organisation and its flagship initiatives, and focuses on the expansion and the activation of Friends of Europe’s vast network of trustees, European young leaders and other senior political, corporate, media and societal contacts and partners throughout the world.

Geert also is a founding member of the Boards of both the Africa-Europe Foundation, and of TownHall Europe (the Davignon Centre for New Leadership).

Geert headed the European conference organising, press relations and publishing company Forum Europe for more than ten years, and managed the revival of one of Belgium’s finest architectural examples of Art Nouveau, after creating La Maison de l’Europe in the prestigious 100-year-old Bibliothèque Solvay.

At the outset of his career, Geert worked for a few years in the humanitarian office (ECHO) at the European Commission, as deputy in the newly set-up information and communications unit. His focus was mainly on raising the profile of the EU’s humanitarian efforts throughout the world, through publications and media initiatives such as exhibitions, television debates or Humanitarian Days in Member States.

He also worked for two music programmes at Belgian public Radio 1, and very briefly as a teacher and TV journalist.

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Nathalie Furrer

Director, Climate & Energy, Health, European Young Leaders, State of Europe

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Nathalie Furrer is the Director of Climate & Energy, Health, European Young Leaders and State of Europe Programmes & Operations at Friends of Europe. Through her leadership, since 2002, the think tank has become the go-to place to connect, debate and change Europe.

She founded its Africa, development, health, climate, energy and sustainability transition policy areas and launched its very successful European Young Leaders programme.

She has been instrumental in developing a multi-stakeholder approach to the work of a think tank and in the organisation’s reach to the non-institutional sector.

In her current role, she works with our talented team, members and partners. Prior to joining Friends of Europe, she worked in an institute for public policy research organising international conferences throughout Europe.

Dharmendra Kanani
Dharmendra Kanani

Chief Operating Officer and Chief Spokesperson of Friends of Europe

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Prior to joining Friends of Europe, Dharmendra Kanani was director of policy at the European Foundation Centre (EFC). He was the England director at the Big Lottery Fund, the largest independent funder in the UK and fourth largest in the world. Dharmendra has held senior positions in the public and voluntary sector and advisor to numerous ministerial policy initiatives across the UK.

Chris Kremidas Courtney
Chris Kremidas-Courtney

Senior Fellow for Peace, Security and Defence at Friends of Europe, Lecturer for Institute for Security Governance (ISG) in Monterey, California, and Senior Advisor at Extended Reality Safety Initiative (XRSI), San Francisco

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Prior to joining the Institute for Security Governance, they served for 32 years in the US and NATO, most recently serving as the Multilateral Engagement Coordinator for US European Command and director of training and exercises for the Hybrid COE.

A natural international community organiser, Chris organises comprehensive approach seminars for various NATO headquarters and has buillt regional communities of interest to address hybrid threats and enhance resilience in the Black Sea and Mediterranean regions and to reduce violence along the US-Mexico border.

Lindsey-Nefesh-Clarke_EYL40
Lindsey Nefesh-Clarke

Founder & Managing Director of Women's Worldwide Web (W4) and 2012 European Young Leader (EYL40)

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Lindsey Nefesh-Clarke is Founder & CEO of W4.org, a social enterprise dedicated to protecting girls’ and women’s human rights and promoting their empowerment around the world, with a focus on Sustainable Development Goal 5b: harnessing technologies. Nefesh-Clarke worked in human rights and development in Africa and Asia at Human Rights Watch, UNICEF, Enfants d’Asie, before founding W4. Named a “Women in IT Role Model” by the European Commission and one of the “Inspiring Fifty” women leaders in Europe’s technology sector, Nefesh-Clarke is a board member of the Women’s Economic Imperative (WEI), which aims to advance the work of the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment. She is also a Senior Fellow for Friends of Europe’s Connect Europe initiative, and a member of the advisory board of UN Women France.

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Adam Nyman

Director, Citizen Outreach and Engagement

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Adam is the Director of Citizen Outreach and Engagement at Friends of Europe. He is responsible for the online citizen-driven discussion platform Debating Europe, which he co-founded in 2011. He has extensive experience in digital media start-ups, including the launch of the Brussels-based newswire service EUPOLITIX.com, which he merged into The Parliament Magazine, where he was the Managing Director. Adam speaks fluent English and Italian.

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Tamsin Rose

Senior Fellow for Health at Friends of Europe

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Tamsin Rose is the Senior Fellow for Health at Friends of Europe. Having studied international relations, she has 25 years of experience working across the European continent from Ireland to Mongolia. A natural communicator, Tamsin has been a radio reporter, worked on press for the EU Delegation in Moscow and is currently a member of the external speaker team for the European Commission Directorate-General for Communication, describing how the EU works and key policies to visitor groups from around the world. Since 2002, she has specialised in public health and public participation issues, serving as the Secretary General of the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), and providing strategic advice for health groups on how to engage successfully with the EU.

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Jamie Shea

Senior Fellow for Peace, Security and Defense at Friends of Europe, and former Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

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Retiring from NATO in September 2018 after 38 years at the organisation, Jamie Shea has occupied a number of senior positions at NATO across a wide range of areas, including external relations, press and media, and policy planning. As NATO’s spokesperson, he was the face of the Alliance during the Bosnia and Kosovo conflicts. He later worked as the Director of Policy Planning in the private office of former Secretary General Rasmussen during the preparation of NATO’s 2010 Strategic Concept. Shea is also a regular lecturer and conference speaker on NATO and European security affairs.

Photo of Paul Taylor
Paul Taylor

Senior Fellow for Peace, Security and Defence at Friends of Europe and author of 'After the Ice', 'Crossing the Wilderness' and 'Murky Waters'

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Paul is a Senior Fellow at Friends of Europe and the author of Friends of Europe’s European Defence Cooperation report series. A Paris-based journalist, he also writes the “Europe at Large” column for Politico. He previously spent four decades working for Reuters as a foreign correspondent in Paris, Tehran, Bonn and Brussels, as bureau chief in Israel/Palestine, Berlin and Brussels, as chief correspondent in France, as diplomatic editor in London, and finally as European affairs editor. His assignments have included covering the Iranian revolution, the Cold War Euromissile crisis, the 1991 Gulf War, German reunification, the Maastricht summit, France in the 1990s, EU enlargement, the Eurozone crisis and the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt.

Team

Photo of Clotilde Besson
Clotilde Besson

Communications Assistant

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Pronouns: she/her
Clotilde Besson is the Communications Assistant at Friends of Europe. She holds an MSc in European Culture and Conflict from the LSE (London School of Economics and Political Sciences) and a Bachelor’s degree in international business from ESSEC Business School. She is involved in two youth empowerment projects, Unite 2030 and Young Global Thinker. She is fluent in French and English and has various degrees of proficiency in Spanish, Japanese and Korean.

Alexandra Binard
Alexandra Binard

Database and Events Manager at Friends of Europe

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Pronouns: she/her
Alexandra Binard is the Data and Event Manager at Friends of Europe. She started her career as an Export Sales assistant at Anecoop, a major Spanish fruit and vegetable organisation, and Office Manager at Iberdrola, a global energy leader. She holds a BA in Office Management from ECSEDI (Haute Ecole Galilee, Belgium) and an Executive Masters degree in European Public Affairs and Communications from the Institut des Hautes Etudes en Communications Sociales (IHECS). She is fluent in French, Spanish and English and has a good knowledge of Dutch.

Photo of Arnaud Bodet
Arnaud Bodet

Social Media Manager

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Arnaud is Social Media Manager at Friends of Europe, working on coordinating the various communications activities and strategy of the organisation. He holds an MSc in European Politics from the London School of Economics and has experience in various Brussels-based organisations, including the European Liberal Forum, International Crisis Group and GIZ. He is fluent in English and French, and has (very) basic skills in German and Spanish.

Photo of Nassim Bounya
Nassim Bounya

Programme and Database Manager at Friends of Europe

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Nassim is the Programme and Database Manager at Friends of Europe. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in History and Political Sciences from the University of Rennes, and a Master’s degree in International Relations from the IEP of Rennes, France (Science Po’s Network). He has previously worked for an NGO providing social support for the migrants in France. Nassim speaks both French and English.

Alessandra Cardaci
Alessandra Cardaci

Project Manager at Debating Europe

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Pronouns: she/her
Alessandra is Project Manager of Debating Europe. She has an international multidisciplinary background with a focus on EU affairs, holding a joint Master’s degree in European studies at the University of Bath and Sciences Po Paris. She has solid and successful experience in project management, business development and communication, having worked for the European Commission, as well as European and American not-for-profit organisations in Brussels and Berlin. She believes in the power of network, community, constructive criticism and cooperation. Alessandra speaks Italian, English and French fluently.

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Evan Da Costa Marques

Programme Assistant at Friends of Europe

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Evan is a Programme Assistant on the Peace, Security & Defence team. He graduated from the College of Europe with an MA in European Interdisciplinary Studies with a specialisation in EU Neighbourhood Policy, and European Security and Defence Challenges. Prior this, he obtained an MA in European and International Studies from the Institute of European Studies in Paris and completed a Double BA in Information and Political Communication, and English Language and Civilization from the University of Bordeaux. His studies focused on the EU Eastern Partnership, Russian and EU foreign policy, conflict mitigation and peacebuilding, and European neighbourhood policy and relations. Before joining Friends of Europe, Evan served as the president and leader of several student association working groups dealing with defence and European affairs. He has also worked as a research trainee on foreign policy and international relations for Global Sovereign Advisory. Fluent in French and English, he speaks Spanish at an intermediate professional level, and holds basic knowledge in Portuguese and Russian.

Alejandro Esteso
Alejandro Esteso

Programme Executive at Friends of Europe

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Pronouns: he/him
Alejandro is a Programme Executive on the Peace, Security and Defence team. He holds a BA in International Relations from Rey Juan Carlos University in Spain and a MA in Political Science from Malmö University in Sweden. Prior to joining Friends of Europe, Alejandro worked as research assistant at the universities of Gothenburg and Umeå in Sweden, and as research fellow at the Kosovo-based think-tank Group for Legal and Political Studies. He was also a trainee at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations. Alejandro is fluent in Spanish, English and Swedish, has advanced knowledge of French and intermediate knowledge of Serbian and Albanian.

Seán Flynn
Seán Flynn

Press Officer

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Seán works as a Press Officer at Friends of Europe. Having completed a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature and a Master’s degree in Business Economics with a thesis focusing on FinTech policy development and regulation, he began his career working as a fund accountant for HedgeServ, a global leader in hedge fund administration. Building on his interest for communications, research and publications, he co-founded Bealtaine, an arts and literature magazine based in Ireland.

Photo of Nathalie Furrer
Nathalie Furrer

Director, Climate & Energy, Health, European Young Leaders, State of Europe

Show more information on Nathalie Furrer

Nathalie Furrer is the Director of Climate & Energy, Health, European Young Leaders and State of Europe Programmes & Operations at Friends of Europe. Through her leadership, since 2002, the think tank has become the go-to place to connect, debate and change Europe.

She founded its Africa, development, health, climate, energy and sustainability transition policy areas and launched its very successful European Young Leaders programme.

She has been instrumental in developing a multi-stakeholder approach to the work of a think tank and in the organisation’s reach to the non-institutional sector.

In her current role, she works with our talented team, members and partners. Prior to joining Friends of Europe, she worked in an institute for public policy research organising international conferences throughout Europe.

Krystal Gaillard
Krystal Gaillard

Programme Executive at Friends of Europe

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Pronouns: she/her
Krystal is a Programme Executive at Friends of Europe, responsible for the European Young Leader (EYL40) programme. She holds a double MSc in Public Policy and Human Development from Maastricht University and the United Nations University, as well as a joint law degree and political science BA from the University of Kent. Prior to this, she was a junior policy analyst, assistant researcher and editor-in-chief of a public policy and governance academic journal.

Giulia Gouet
Giulia Gouet

Programme Officer at Friends of Europe

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Pronouns: she/her
Giulia is a Programme Officer for Climate, Energy & Sustainability. She joined Friends of Europe after finishing an MSc in International Development at the University of Amsterdam, where she completed a fieldwork-based thesis on the agroecology movement. Prior to this, she obtained a BSc from Bocconi University on subjects regarding international governance and political economics. She is motivated to work towards implementing change-driven ideas through research, debate and advocacy.

Laura Holsbeek
Laura Holsbeek

Events Executive at Friends of Europe

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Pronouns: she/her

Prior to joining the events team at Friends of Europe, Laura worked in events and administration for KU Leuven at the faculty of biomedical sciences, known for organising accredited medicine and healthcare (hybrid) events. Laura graduated with a BA in Japanese and Korean Language and Area Studies, an MA in Cultural Studies and an advanced MSc in Cultural Anthropology and Development Studies from KU Leuven. She also obtained a certificate in International Studies from Ehwa University in Seoul, where she became particularly interested in topics such as peace, conflict management and international development cooperation. During her studies, she completed a fieldwork-based thesis in both South Korea and Belgium, with a particular focus on transgenerational and transnational trauma, migration, decolonialisation and biopolitical implications of socio-political demonstrations. Laura speaks fluent Dutch and English, Korean and Japanese at intermediate level, as well as elementary French.

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Natasha Ibbotson

Head of Memberships and Partnerships at Friends of Europe

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Pronouns: she/her
Head of Memberships and Partnerships at Friends of Europe, Natasha is responsible for the implementation of several programmes, as well as relations with members and the development of partnership opportunities. She began her career working for a cultural organisation in Berlin before moving to Brussels to work for a grant-making fund and later an international trade association. She holds Master’s degrees in classical languages from the University of Oxford and European Union law from King’s College London.

Dharmendra Kanani
Dharmendra Kanani

Chief Operating Officer and Chief Spokesperson of Friends of Europe

Show more information on Dharmendra Kanani

Prior to joining Friends of Europe, Dharmendra Kanani was director of policy at the European Foundation Centre (EFC). He was the England director at the Big Lottery Fund, the largest independent funder in the UK and fourth largest in the world. Dharmendra has held senior positions in the public and voluntary sector and advisor to numerous ministerial policy initiatives across the UK.

Chris Kremidas Courtney
Chris Kremidas-Courtney

Senior Fellow for Peace, Security and Defence at Friends of Europe, Lecturer for Institute for Security Governance (ISG) in Monterey, California, and Senior Advisor at Extended Reality Safety Initiative (XRSI), San Francisco

Show more information on Chris Kremidas-Courtney

Prior to joining the Institute for Security Governance, they served for 32 years in the US and NATO, most recently serving as the Multilateral Engagement Coordinator for US European Command and director of training and exercises for the Hybrid COE.

A natural international community organiser, Chris organises comprehensive approach seminars for various NATO headquarters and has buillt regional communities of interest to address hybrid threats and enhance resilience in the Black Sea and Mediterranean regions and to reduce violence along the US-Mexico border.

Transparency Board

Monica Frassoni
Monica Frassoni

President of the European Alliance to Save Energy, former co-president of the European Green Party, former member of the European Parliament and Trustee of Friends of Europe

Show more information on Monica Frassoni

Monica Frassoni is an Italian politician who previously served as the Co-President of the European Green Party. Prior to that, during her time as Member of the European Parliament, she was Co-Chair of the European Greens–European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament. She also served for ten years as an officer of the Greens group in the European Parliament and was Secretary-General of the Young European Federalists. In 2010, she co-founded the European Alliance to Save Energy, an organisation which aims to promote and advocate energy savings and a new energy model.

Photo of Jon Worth
Jon Worth

Political Blogger and Campaigner, #CrossBorderRail Project and 2012 European Young Leader (EYL40)

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Jon is one the best-known political bloggers and commentators on all things EU politics and Brexit. His commentary on his blog (jonworth.eu) and Twitter account (@jonworth) are well known in Brussels and EU circles. His work around Brexit and especially his famous Brexit diagrams have been featured in international media, including The New York Times and ARD. Jon is a Visiting Lecturer on politics and online communication at the College of Europe in Bruges. He also leads workshops at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, the University of Maastricht and the Italian School of Public Administration in Rome. The Founder of Trains for Europe, a campaign that demands the European Union take action on the issues surrounding long distance rail travel in Europe, Jon is an experienced campaigner, having previously organised a number of online campaigns for United Kingdom politicians and the Atheist Bus Campaign.

Financials

Our revenue

In 2022 Friends of Europe’s funding revenue was € 6  316 645 . This money was contributed through participation fees (“memberships”), institutional and governmental subsidies, contributions to costs of events, reports or other projects.

 


Types of revenue

  • Membership guarantees participation at all our debates, hard copies of our reports, and finally, networking opportunities. It goes without saying that Friends of Europe does not represent the interests of its members, most of whom in any case have competing or conflicting interests, and in that respect it is worthwhile stating that Friends of Europe members are paying an annual ‘participation fee’ without any other prerogative or role in the governance of Friends of Europe.
  • Project sponsorship provides associated visibility linked to a specific project (such as a report or debate), and a possible speaking slot or op-ed contribution, with overall independence and balance of opinion contractually guaranteed by Friends of Europe.
  • Programme/pillar partnership offers visibility and input into our annual work programme for a specific pillar or programme, again with independence and balance of opinion contractually guaranteed by Friends of Europe.
  • Exceptional revenues (such as compensation of office rent, payment exchanges…)

 


Revenue breakdown

6 316 645  broken down per source of funding as follows:

  • European and international institutions: € 2 698 790 (43%)
  • Diplomatic missions, national, regional and local authorities: € 1 885 695 (30%)
  • Corporate sector (companies and trade associations): € 861 715 (14%)
  • Private non-corporate (foundations and NGOs): € 584 141 (9%)
  • Participation fees (“Membership”): € 286 304 (4%)

 


Membership guarantees participation at all our debates, copies of our reports, and networking opportunities. Friends of Europe does not represent the interests of its members, who pay an annual ‘participation fee’ without any other prerogative or role in the governance of Friends of Europe.

Membership fees are among the lowest in Brussels so as to stimulate as wide and heterogeneous membership as possible. Memberships are not ‘personal’, so any person employed by a member organisation can attend our debates and receive copies of our major reports.

Basic annual membership fees are as follows:

  • NGOs: €550
  • SMEs, trade associations, chambers of commerce: €1,070
  • International organisations and diplomatic missions of G20 and European Economic Area (EEA) countries: €1,070
  • Diplomatic missions of non-G20/EEA countries: €860
  • Regional offices: €860
  • Foundations: €860
  • Corporations: €2,450

 


For project-related partnerships, Friends of Europe has opted from the beginning for transparent and open communication. All partners are systematically credited on the website and in our reports.

Project-related partners receive two key advantages: visibility in the communications campaign surrounding a debate or a report, and an opportunity to speak at an event or write for a report/publication.

Friends of Europe offers a platform to people from all backgrounds and opinion, including government and institution leaders, NGOs and lobbyists of all shapes and colours, but the editorial independence and the guaranteed balance of discussions are the exclusive responsibility of Friends of Europe, as contractually enshrined.

We write balanced reports or debate programmes, and bring in voices that disagree with one another. It is only by confronting ideas that Europe will find the best solutions for the challenges of our times.

It should be stressed that the objective of Friends of Europe’s activities is to foster discussion and debate among the EU’s leaders and citizens on the issues that shape their future and to debate and circulate useful ideas for a more forward-looking, inclusive and sustainable Europe, not to push any specific political or business interest

 


For the full details of revenues coming from Friends of Europe’s membership/participation fees, click here.

For the full details of other revenues, click here.

The Transparency and Independence Board helps define, refine and verify our credentials in terms of financial transparency and independence.

 


Fundraising guidelines

Financing is an essential part of any organisation’s existence, and Friends of Europe relies on it to be able to ensure the broadest possible platform for debate, reflection and analysis. To uphold our mission as an independent think-tank, we adhere to the following basic principles of independence and transparency.

Transparency
: Friends of Europe openly credits all partners, and is transparent as to sources of its funding in relation to our various projects. We maintain open and direct visibility for all our partners.

Opposing views
: Friends of Europe maintains partnerships with organisations and governments that clearly have opposing views. Offering a speaking slot to partners does not pose a problem in this respect, on condition that other relevant points of view are equally represented.

Editorial Independence
: Friends of Europe remains at all times independent in its approach to any given policy issue. This principle is also legally enshrined in any contract with a partner: “Editorial and intellectual independence and the balance of events/reports shall at all times remain exclusive responsibility of Friends of Europe.”

 


Fundraising objectives

Inclusiveness: Friends of Europe’s main objective in fundraising is to finance the widest possible participation in high-quality debates and reports, combining the best available research, facts & figures. We aim to bring together all sides of a debate, and a spectrum of opinion that is as wide as possible. This includes conflicting political opinions, corporate as well as civil society and NGO voices, and a variety of specialists and media from throughout the world.

Communication
: Friends of Europe’s activities are backed by our communications powerhouse to seek maximum exposure for its projects and therefore also for its authors, speakers and partners. That communication includes the publication and dissemination of articles and reports on our activities, available to our members and partners, the media and the general public. Adequate funding for this effort is highly important.

Reach
: We aim to engage a wider audience beyond the “establishment” and the “Brussels bubble”, in an effort to inform people and fight political apathy and voter absenteeism. This is why we seek to expand paid partnerships across Europe and the world to extend our reach.

 


Independence and Transparency Board

To ensure the openness and independence of our organisation, Friends of Europe has created a panel of people from various walks of life to consider any potential issues. The board meets at least once a year in Brussels and whenever it is deemed useful.

The Transparency and Independence Board helps define, refine and verify our credentials in terms of financial transparency and independence.

As stated above, Friends of Europe welcomes as wide an array of opinions as possible, and we do not shy away from provocative exchanges between different stakeholders. However, we wish to clarify the following restrictions we have imposed on ourselves:

  1. Representatives from extremist parties which advocate racism, violence, or which have values that go against basic European values as delineated above, are not invited to write in our reports, to speak at our debates or to support our activities financially.
  2. In line with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), a legally binding international treaty that aims to reduce the damaging health and economic impacts of tobacco consumption, Friends of Europe refrains from working with the tobacco industry.
  3. While arms manufacturers can become members of Friends of Europe, a few limitations do apply. Friends of Europe will not offer them a high profile as partners of projects, nor accept partnership money from the production and sales of arms. As listed in SIPRI’s most recent annual report on arms producing, FOE defines “arms manufacturers” as any company having more than 50% of its sales coming from the production of arms. (FOE excludes companies only providing consultancy & IT services to intelligence agencies, armed forces or ministries of defence from this definition, such as BAH through whom FOE has received US government funding. SIPRI = Stockholm International Peace Research Institute).
  4. Friends of Europe refrains from accepting partnerships with fossil fuel firms which are responsible for the biggest cumulative carbon emissions as ranked by the Climate Accountability Institute. We will further adapt our fundraising policy in line with Client Earth’s report, Principles for Paris-alignment. This will allow us to look at the ‘Paris alignment’ or ‘net-zero’ strategies of fossil fuel companies and determine whether they are underpinned by basic principles of reasonability, transparency and accountability. This funding policy is specifically applicable to coal and oil companies. Many decarbonisation scenarios predict a role for natural gas in the transition to a climate-neutral Europe by 2050, therefore we do not automatically exclude natural gas companies. A decision to work or not work with a company is not permanent, since we understand that a company’s ambitions and approach to Paris alignment may evolve over time.
  5. Non-EU countries are eligible partners in an effort to engage in fruitful discussions that may help in certain cases at sharing best practices, or improving democratic and human rights conditions, as long as our intellectual credibility or that of a project are not endangered.
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