Annual report: our work in 2021

“Faced with the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines developed in record time offered much needed relief. Solidarity took many forms within and between communities, from remarkable volunteer efforts to the approval of the European Union’s largest stimulus package ever. Overcoming significant obstacles and establishing a degree of unanimity among member states, the Union demonstrated its commitment to Europe’s recovery, while addressing challenges of democracy and the rule of law. It was with this optimism for the future of Europe that the Friends of Europe work programmes had been established throughout 2021,” write Friends of Europe’s President Etienne Davignon, and Co-Founder and Secretary-General Geert Cami.

• March: Friends of Europe joins the European Climate Pact.
• April: Friends of Europe launches the Making Space Matter initiative, in partnership with the European Space Agency.
• May: Friends of Europe publishes its eighth European Defence Study, ‘Crossing the wilderness: Europe and the Sahel’.
• May: On the occasion of Europe Day, Friends of Europe and the European Young Leaders (EYL40) release the ‘Capital of Europe, Women of Europe’ map.
• June: Debating Europe publishes its ‘100 European Voices: Young People Debate Europe’s Recovery Plan’ report.
• October: Friends of Europe hosts the 18th edition of its flagship event, ‘State of Europe – the festival of politics and ideas: a new Renaissance’, launching the ‘Connected Europe: A digital brand for a just transition’ report in partnership with Vodafone. October was also the month of the annual Climate and Energy Summit.
• December: The Africa-Europe Foundation celebrates its first anniversary and publishes its charter, ‘Choosing a common future in a rapidly changing world’. December was also the month of two other annual summits: Peace, Security & Defence and EU-Western Balkans.

Learn more about our work in 2021 here.