dupa 10 luni de munca ecfr devine real. marti are loc lansarea publica a ECFR – printr-o serie de op-eduri in presa europeana, lansarea paginii web, si o serie de evenimente care vor avea loc in urmatoarele doua luni in berlin, londra, madrid, bruxelles, sofia, si nu mai tin minte unde. voi plasa materialele care apar despre ecfr pe parcursul aparitiei. studiul pe ue-rusia apare in cateva saptamani. dar am terminat un prim draft vineri. acum intram in faza de culegere a comentraiilor/reactiilor. initial de la cativa membri din consiliul ecfr, si apoi de la experti.

vedeti si comunicatul de lansare cu lista celor care au initiat acest Consiliu.

50 Prominent Europeans call on European Union to Punch its Weight in the World

First ever pan-European think-tank launched to promote “vigorous” EU foreign policy, with offices in Berlin, London, Madrid, Paris, Rome, Sofia and Warsaw

As the European Union prepares to sign a new treaty at the October inter-governmental conference in Lisbon, fifty prominent Europeans will launch the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) on 2 October, to promote a more coherent and vigorous European foreign policy in support of Europe’s common interests and shared values.

Among the fifty founding members are former prime ministers, presidents, European commissioners, current and former parliamentarians and ministers, public intellectuals, and cultural figures from 27 EU member states – including Martti Ahtisaari, Giuliano Amato, Emma Bonino, Jean-Luc Dehaene, Joschka Fischer, Timothy Garton Ash, Bronislaw Geremek, Mart Laar, Chris Patten, Dominique Strauss-Kahn as well as music producer Brian Eno, the architect Rem Koolhaas, the author Elif Shafak, and the Hungarian-born philanthropist George Soros.

The founding members want to move the European Union out of an era of introspection, which deepened after the French and Dutch ‘no’ votes, and force it to face up to its global responsibilities. They have drawn up a Statement of Principles which calls on European heads of state and government to:

  • Develop a more coherent and vigorous European foreign policy, in order to tackle an increasing number of global challenges, including climate change, world poverty, nuclear proliferation and the surge of violent extremism;
  • Co-operate more effectively in multilateral organisations, such as the UN, the World Bank, the IMF, and WTO in order to increase the EU’s collective power;
  • Stand by the EU commitment to the prospect of eventual membership for Turkey and Western Balkans countries, in order to encourage their continued political, economic and social development;
  • Increase incentives – such as visa regimes and market access – for the EU’s immediate neighbours to draw them further into the EU’s sphere of influence;
  • Make the EU’s aid and trade relations – including the EUR 12bn of European Neighbourhood Policy and EUR 22bn of aid to the third world under the Cotonou Agreement – more conditional on political reform in recipient countries;
  • Use the full gamut of European power to back European values, including, if all else fails, a willingness to use military force to stop genocide or avert humanitarian catastrophes, on both the wider European continent and around the world.


The ECFR’s board will be chaired by Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland now serving as UN Special Envoy for Kosovo, Joschka Fischer, former German Foreign Minister, and Mabel van Oranje, human rights activist and International Advocacy Director for the Open Society Institute.

Joschka Fischer said:
“The European Union has been a powerful example for integration, prolonged peace, and prosperity in a complex international environment. The international system of the 21st century needs a strong and united EU and ECFR will make a crucial contribution to this end.”

Martti Ahtisaari said:
“The European Council on Foreign Relations is essential in creating channels for open debate in Europe. ECFR promotes the need for Europe to become an important unified, courageous, innovative and coherent actor.”

Mabel van Oranje said:
“Europe’s weight in the world can no longer be taken for granted. Either we unite and have an impact on global problems such as terrorism, the climate crisis and AIDS. Or, the fate of our generation will be decided by others. The European Council on Foreign Relations will take a fresh approach to the issues that will shape our future.”

Mark Leonard, ECFR’s Executive Director and author of “Why Europe will run the 21st Century” said:
“Europe needs to come of age. We need to stop complaining about what others are doing to the world, and start thinking for ourselves. We want a can-do foreign policy, where European power is put at the service of European values.”

George Soros, whose foundations have offered support for the initiative, said:
The European Union embodies the principles of an open society and it ought to serve as a model for a global open society. The EU is used to taking its lead from the United States, reacting to its agenda – sometimes positively, sometimes negatively – and it basically accepts the world order as given. That has to change and it cannot be achieved by individual countries acting on their own.”

The launch on 2 October, 2007 will mark the start of a series of debates, conferences and report presentations in different European cities. It will also witness the launch of ECFR’s website (www.ecfr.eu), which aims to create a pan-European community of debate and activism in support of a globally-engaged European Union.

ECFR’s research will put the spotlight on EU strengths and weaknesses by highlighting the contributions of member states that advance the common European interests, and naming and shaming those EU governments that are underperforming. Its first “power audits” are set to deliver workable ideas on how to increase the EU’s leverage on Russia, and on how to maximize the EU’s voice within the UN system.

In the coming months, ECFR will also perform an in-depth survey of the EU’s current methods of human rights and democracy promotion, propose a pan-European strategy for Afghanistan, and will research the EU’s defence policy, its relations with China and other themes.

Its first report, focusing on EU-Russia relations, will be presented in the second half of October. Also in late October, ECFR will publish the findings of a global Gallup survey, covering approx. 2 billion people in over 60 countries, focusing on the actual and desired global influence of a range of international actors, including the EU.

For further information and for interviews with founding members, please contact Zsofia Szilagyi, 44 (0) 20 7031 1623, 44 (0) 78 7677 5034, Email: press@ecfr.eu

ENDS

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SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

1. NOTES TO EDITORS

ECFR’s executive director is Mark Leonard, formerly director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform, and author of “Why Europe will run the 21st Century.

ECFR has recruited respected academics and policy experts for its research and advocacy centres, including John Fox from the British Embassy in Beijing, Francois Godement of the Asia Centre in Paris, Ulrike Guérot of the German Marshall Fund, Thomas Klau from the Financial Times Deutschland, and Daniel Korski from the UK Department for International Development. Also joining are Ognyan Minchev of the Sofia-based Institute for Regional and International Studies, Pierre Noel of the University of Cambridge, Nicu Popescu from the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels, Jose Ignacio Torreblanca of the Real Institute Elcano, as well as Nick Witney, former chief executive of the European Defence Agency, and Hans Wolters from the World Wildlife Fund.

ECFR has raised its initial core funding through FRIDE (Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo Exterior), Sigrid Rausing, the Communitas Foundation, and the Soros Foundations Network.

ECFR has already set up offices in London, Berlin, Paris, Madrid and Sofia, and will open offices in Rome and Warsaw in the coming months. These offices will give ECFR a representation in countries that between them account for more than 70 per cent of the current EU population.

2. STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES

“We call on the governments of the European Union to develop a more coherent and vigorous foreign policy, informed by our shared values, dedicated to the pursuit of our common European interests, and sustained by European power.
We endorse the following principles:

1. When faced by the great powers of today and the rising giants of tomorrow, individual European countries regard the world as beyond their control. But if it speaks with one voice, the Europe Union can help shape the world order.
2. It is only by acting together that European Union countries can effectively pursue their common interests, from combating climate change to reducing poverty, from defending human rights and averting genocide to stopping the spread of deadly weapons and addressing the causes of violent extremism.
3. The European Union’s foreign policy should be backed up with all of Europe’s economic, political, cultural and, as a last resort, military power. Our commitment to strong and effective multilateral institutions must be matched by a drive to increase European influence within them.
4. Starting with the European Union’s neighbours, the best way to secure peace and prosperity is to honour existing commitments to countries seeking membership and to encourage political reforms with more generous offers of economic opportunity and political cooperation.
5. European transformative power can reach beyond its immediate neighbourhood. The European Union should leverage the world’s largest single market and most generous aid budgets to promote the values we believe in, both in other parts of the world and in multilateral institutions.

Europeans will benefit from having a stronger voice in the world and the world will benefit from a stronger European Union.”

3. FOUNDING MEMBERS

1. Urban Ahlin (Sweden) – Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee; foreign policy spokesperson for the Social Democratic Party
2. Giuliano Amato (Italy) – Minister of Interior; former Prime Minister and vice president of the European Convention
3. Martti Ahtisaari (Finland) – UN Special Envoy for the Future Status Process for Kosovo; President of the Crisis Management Initiative; former President
4. Hannes Androsch (Austria) – Founder of AIC Androsch International Management Consulting
5. Marek Belka (Poland) – Executive Director of the UN Economic Commission for Europe; former Prime Minister
6. Svetoslav Bojilov (Bulgaria) – Founder of the Communitas Foundation, President of Venture Equity Bulgaria Ltd.
7. Emma Bonino (Italy) – Minister for Europe and International Trade; former European Commissioner
8. Robert Cooper (United Kingdom) – Director-General for External and Politico-Military Affairs, Council of the EU General Secretariat
9. Marta Dassu (Italy) – Diplomatic adviser to Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema; Director of the Aspen Institute Italia
10. Gijs de Vries (The Netherlands) – Senior Fellow at the Clingendael Institute; former EU Counter-terrorism Coordinator
11. Jean-Luc Dehaene (Belgium) – Member of the European Parliament, former Prime Minister and vice president of the European Convention
12. Gianfranco Dell’Alba (Italy) – Chef de Cabinet for Minister Emma Bonino
13. Andrew Duff (United Kingdom) – Member of the European Parliament, ALDE
14. Sarmite Elerte (Latvia) – Editor-in-chief of Latvian daily newspaper Diena
15. Brian Eno (United Kingdom) – musician and producer
16. Joschka Fischer (Germany) – former Foreign Minister and vice-Chancellor
17. Timothy Garton Ash (United Kingdom) – Professor of European Studies at Oxford University
18. Bronislaw Geremek (Poland) – Member of the European Parliament, ALDE; former Foreign Minister
19. Diego Hidalgo (Spain) – Co-founder of Spanish newspaper El Pais and President of FRIDE
20. Mary Kaldor (United Kingdom) – Professor and Director of the Centre for the Study of Global Governance, London School of Economics
21. Gerald Knaus (Germany) – Founding director of the European Stability Initiative
22. Rem Koolhaas (The Netherlands) – architect and urbanist; Professor at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University
23. Caio Koch-Weser (Germany) – Vice Chairman of the Deutsche Bank Group; former State Secretary
24. Ivan Krastev (Bulgaria) – Chair of Board, Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia, Bulgaria
25. Mart Laar (Estonia) ¬- Former Prime Minister of Estonia
26. Mark Leonard (United Kingdom) – Executive Director of the European Council on Foreign Relations
27. Adam Lury (United Kingdom) – Director of Menemsha Ltd; former advisor to Lord Browne
28. Alain Minc (France) – Chairman of Le Monde; Head of consulting group AM Conseil
29. Christine Ockrent (France) – Editor-in-chief at France Télévision
30. Leoluca Orlando (Italy) – MP; President of the Sicilian Renaissance Institute
31. Cem Özdemir (Germany) – Member of the European Parliament, Green Party
32. Simon Panek (Czech Republic) – Chairman of the People in Need Foundation
33. Teresa Patricio Gouveia (Portugal) – Trustee to the Board of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation; former Foreign Minister
34. Chris Patten (United Kingdom) – Chancellor of Oxford University; Former EU Commissioner and Governor of Hong Kong
35. Diana Pinto (France) – Historian and author
36. Andrew Puddephatt (United Kingdom) – Director of Global Partners & Associated Ltd.
37. Sigrid Rausing (Sweden) – Founder of the Sigrid Rausing Trust
38. Albert Rohan (Austria) – Deputy to the UN Special Envoy for the Future Status Process for Kosovo
39. Pierre Schori (Sweden) – Director General of FRIDE; and SRSG to Cote d´Ívoire
40. Elif Shafak (Turkey) – Author
41. Narcís Serra (Spain) – Chair of CIDOB Foundation; former Vice President
42. Aleksander Smolar (Poland) – Chairman of the Board, Stefan Batory Foundation
43. George Soros (Hungary/US) – Chairman, Open Society Institute
44. Dominique Strauss-Kahn (France) – MP, Professor at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris; Former Finance Minister
45. Helle Thorning Schmidt (Denmark) – Leader of the Social Democratic Party
46. Michiel van Hulten (The Netherlands) – Managing Director of Burson-Marsteller, Brussels; Former MEP and chairman of the Dutch Labour Party
47. Mabel van Oranje (The Netherlands) – International Advocacy Director, Open Society Institute
48. Antonio Vitorino (Portugal) – Lawyer and former European Commissioner
49. Sir Stephen Wall (United Kingdom) – Chairman of Hill and Knowlton (Public Affairs EMEA) and former Europe advisor to PM Tony Blair
50. Andre Wilkens (Germany) – Executive Director of the Open Society Institute in Brussels

4. EUROPEAN POWER IN NUMBERS

1. At nearly 500 million, the population of the European Union is the third largest in the world after China and India;
2. The European Union provides 55% of the world’s overseas development assistance, the total value of which was EUR 47 billion in 2006, which translates to nearly EUR 100 per EU citizen;
3. The EU stations 55,000 European peacekeepers abroad, and has a network of 125 Commission delegations outside of the EU;
4. The EU’s 27 member states together account for 20% of world trade, and a quarter of the world’s gross national product. The EU’s largest trading partner is the United States, followed by China and Russia;
5. The EU is the largest single destination for exports from the world’s developing countries;
6. According to the latest EuroBarometer, 68% of European Union citizens support a common European Union foreign policy, while 3 out of 4 EU citizens are in favour of a common security and defence policy;
7. A recent survey by the German Marshall Fund (Transatlantic Trends, September, 2007) concluded that 88% of Europeans want the EU to take greater responsibility for dealing with global threats. 71% of Europeans agree that the EU should engage in democracy promotion in the world.

PS: iata op-edul de lansare in financial times “Why Europe needs to assert itself in the world“, un comentariu de-al lui mark pe blogul the economist “A new think-tank makes its pitch“, op-edul in germana in Die Welt in germana, si articole sau referinte in El Pais, Liberation, Reuters/YLE, Dnevnik (Bulgaria).