Annual report: our work in 2024

The purpose of this report is to demonstrate the key reflections and highlights of Friends of Europe’s activities in 2024. ​

​​The Renewed Social Contract continues to frame Friends of Europe’s engagement with the European political landscape and will be the red thread of the upcoming State of Europe high-level roundtable. State of Europe 2025 will focus on Europe’s choices for the next institutional cycle and bring together 200+ dignitaries from the private, public and civil society sectors.

In 2024, our sister reports 10 policy choices for a Renewed Social Contract for Europe and 2024 Voices: Citizens Speak Up! transformed earlier concepts into concrete proposals complemented by citizen-driven data insights – from accelerating carbon reduction and reforming EU fiscal strategy to engaging the private sector for social good. We emphasised that the social contract could no longer be an abstract goal but a political and institutional imperative, embedded in ideas of equity, redistribution and co-production. We made an earnest appeal to shift mindsets and behaviours towards addressing social problems, offering actionable policy choices and a dataset of citizen sentiments to leaders.

Peace Security and Defence

•  Launch of The Ukraine Initiative in February 2024, which aims to complement existing official efforts directed at enhancing short-, medium- and long-term support for Ukraine, as well as engage European and transatlantic civil society, business and public opinion by activating an expansive, heterogeneous and impactful platform for advocating the strategic importance of supporting Ukraine and its Euro-Atlantic ambitions.
• ​Publication of the study “Ukraine: cost of inaction – What’s at stake for our economies, politics and democracies,” tied to the Ukraine Security Forum: the paper details the geopolitical stakes involved, including the potential for expanded conflict, increased Russian influence and the weakening of international norms, as well as the economic risks if we fail to give Ukraine the support it needs.
• Preparation of the WPS project “Frontline Voices: Women Shaping Peace and Security in Ukraine”.

Balkan Journey & Shared Justice​

• The EU-Western Balkans Summit, hosted in the framework of the Balkan Journey and the Shared Justice Initiative on 5 December 2024 in Brussels, focused on redefining EU enlargement and accelerating the accession processes of Western Balkan countries while also linking it to the European integration of Ukraine and Moldova.

​Global Europe

• Launch of the DRIVE Impact Initiative, with the first round of working groups held in June, and second round in October.
• ​The EU-ASEAN Forum was held on 16 April 2024, with opening remarks from the ASEAN’s Secretary General, and with two sessions on economic relations.
• Continued focus on the current trends in EU-China relations: the Europe-China Forum 2024 focused on the 50th anniversary of EU-China diplomatic relations, exploring the current geoeconomic tensions.

European Young Leaders (EYL40) programme

• In 2024, we successfully launched a new class of 44 European Young Leaders.
• The yearly seminar took place in Paris and provided an opportunity to engage the new class and alumni, establish a partnership with Poland through their embassy ahead of their EU presidency, support the development of an entrepreneurship programme by a leading global brand at their request, and involve citizens in a discussion with representatives from all mainstream parties, from different countries, ahead of the elections.

Climate, Energy and Sustainability

• In spring, we published the “Strengthening the EU’s Sustainable Finance Agenda” report, highlighting the critical role of finance in advancing a climate-resilient, net-zero future.
• Our yearly Climate and Energy Summit has brought together senior representatives from all backgrounds and addressed the critical position that the energy sector occupies for the future of Europe’s competitiveness and the transition to climate neutrality. The analysis of these policy issues has been strengthened thanks to the continued collaboration with the International Energy Agency (IEA).

​Sustainable Livelihoods

• ​Our work focused on the imperative of establishing an enabling ecosystem for innovation in Europe. ​2024 activities, including this year’s summit held shortly after the European elections, brought together public and private sector representatives, civil society, academics and patients in thought-provoking debates on all the above and the role of health in its next mandate.

Renewed Social Contract​

• The ‘10 Policy Choices for a Renewed Social Contract for Europe’ and the Debating Europe 2024 Voices reports were launched at the European Parliament Plenary session in Strasbourg in February 2024.

Engaging citizens with Debating Europe

• Launch of our “2024 Voices” multiannual and multilingual focus group project involving 2024 people in 7 countries – Belgium, Poland, Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Sweden.
• The proprietary citizen-generated data underpin Friends of Europe’s 2024 activities around the Renewed Social Contract and partner events.

Digital & Data governance​

• In 2024, the Digital & Data governance programme focused on Artificial Intelligence in the context of elections and democracy, as well as the future of work as well as the importance of transatlantic relations in this regard, with the first AI & Society Forum, which took place in September.

Learn more about our work in 2024 here.