Friends of Europe

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Friends of Europe is a Brussels-based, not-for-profit think-tank for European Union policy analysis and debate. The organisation, established in 1999, has no political or national allegiance and is independent of the EU institutions. Its declared goal is to foster open discussion and to stimulate new thinking on the issues facing Europe and its citizens.

The organisation's activities focus in particular on six thematic areas:

• Development
• Energy and the environment
• The future of Europe
• Internal market
• The EU and its neighbours
• Social challenges

Friends of Europe's board of trustees is composed of people who hold, or have held, positions of responsibility in European affairs. Its President is Etienne Davignon, a politician, businessman and former vice-president of the European Commission. Other members of the Praesidium are:

• Pat Cox, President of the European Movement International and former President of the European Parliament
• Jean-Luc Dehaene, former Prime Minister of Belgium and vice-president of the Convention on the Future of Europe
• Daniel Janssen, former Director of Fortis
• Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and former European Commissioner for Trade
• Guy Verhofstadt, former Prime Minister of Belgium
• António Vitorino, former European Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs and former Portuguese Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister

Friends of Europe's Secretary-General is Giles Merritt, a former Brussels correspondent of the Financial Times.

[edit] External links

• Friends of Europe