The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) is the first pan-European think tank.[1] Launched in October 2007, its objective is to conduct research and promote informed debate across Europe on the development of coherent and effective European values based foreign policy.
ECFR's founding members include former European prime ministers, parliamentarians, business leaders, public intellectuals, and activists, all committed to increasing the EU's role on the world stage. The initiative is headed by Director Mark Leonard and has offices in six European capitals - Berlin, London, Madrid, Paris, Rome and Sofia.
ECFR was named "Best New Think Tank in the World over the Last Five Years" by Foreign Policy magazine in its January/February 2009 and 2010 editions.[2]
Research strategy
ECFR's aim is to create a stronger Europe in a more peaceful and prosperous world. It has developed a unique three pillar structure:
The Council: ECFR brings together over 100 prominent and influential Europeans from 27 countries - including over 10 former Heads of Government, 20 Foreign Ministers, public intellectuals and business people - to create a real European strategic community, which meets once a year as a full body. Through geographical and thematic task forces, members provide ECFR staff with advice and feedback on policy ideas and help with ECFR's activities within their own countries. The Council is chaired by Martii Ahtisaari, Joschka Fischer and Mabel van Oranje.
The Think Tank: ECFR has brought together a team of distinguished researchers and practitioners from all over Europe who have pioneered a foreign policy research methodology. ECFR prides itself on conducting extensive research in the field, gathering data from all 27 member states (including through its acclaimed 'Power Audit' series), and making the ideas accessible to policy-makers and the general public. It publishes policy reports, holds public debates, and has a lively on-line presence including regular podcasts.
The National Offices: ECFR, uniquely among European think-tanks, has offices across Europe, in Berlin, London, Madrid, Paris, Rome and Sofia. In the future ECFR plans to open offices in Warsaw and Brussels. They act like a network of embassies, providing local expertise, gathering political intelligence and promoting our experts' research and ideas across Europe.
ECFR's research work is organised around the following three programmes:
Russia and Wider Europe: Can the EU recast its relationship to its eastern neighbours and a resurgent Russia? What can be done to use the prospect of EU membership and economic, military and political cooperation to promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law, resolve frozen conflicts and lessen the threat of energy dependence?
China: This programme explores how the EU could pursue more effective strategies in its relations with China on global issues like energy and climate change; development and human rights; nuclear proliferation and global governance. The programme also publishes as a joint Asia Centre and ECFR project a bi-monthly analytical survey of Chinese news and debate entitled China Analysis.
Democracy, human rights and the rule of law: How can the EU and its member states best promote the values of democracy, human rights and justice across the spectrum of Europe's engagement with the world? What is the relationship of these principles to other objectives of European foreign policy, and what is the most effective way to support their further expansion? Also publishes as part of an ECFR-FRIDE joint project various case studies on European promotion of democracy and human rights.
Publications
"The European Council on Foreign Relations...has the knack of producing the right paper at the right time, which really grabs people's attention with some new or counter-intuitive insight." The Economist, April 2009[3]
Produced and published by the Asia Centre in Paris in collaboration with ECFR, China Analysis is a quarterly analytical survey of Chinese news and debate.
The bulletin is edited by Francois Godement, Director of the Asia Centre in Paris and Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. A French version of China Analysis has existed since 2005, and has been widely distributed in academic and policy circles.
The Council on Foreign Relations meets twice a year to discuss how to advance its objectives through innovative projects with a pan-European focus. The current board of the Council is: Martti Ahtisaari (co-chair), Emma Bonino, Joschka Fischer (co-chair), Timothy Garton Ash, Ivan Krastev, Andrew Puddephatt, Aleksander Smolar, and Mabel van Oranje (co-chair).
What Council Members have said about ECFR:
"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. I regard ECFR as pivotal in promoting this vision in a globalising world."
Martti Ahtisaari[4]
"The time has come for Europe to speak with one voice on key issues in our turbulent neighbourhood and an increasingly multi-polar world. ECFR helps us work out what we should say and how we can most effectively say it."
Timothy Garton Ash[5]
"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 makes an important contribution to this end."
Joschka Fischer[6]
The Council has over one hundred members, including former prime ministers, presidents, European commissioners, current and former parliamentarians and ministers, public intellectuals, business leaders, activists and cultural figures from the EU member states and candidate countries.
List of Council Members (last updated May, 2010)
Asger Aamund (Denmark) - President and CEO, A. J. Aamund A/S and Chairman of Bavarian Nordic A/S
Urban Ahlin (Sweden) - Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and foreign policy spokesperson for the Social Democratic Party
Martti Ahtisaari (Finland) - Chairman of the Board, Crisis Management Initiative; former President
Giuliano Amato (Italy) - former Prime Minister and vice President of the European Convention
Hannes Androsch (Austria) - Founder, AIC Androsch International Management Consulting
Jean Pisani-Ferry (France) - Director, Bruegel and Professor at Universite Paris-Dauphine
Andrei Pleşu (Romania) - Rector, New Europe College; former Foreign Minister
Ruprecht Polenz (Germany) - MP and Chairman of the Bundestag Foreign Affairs Committee
Lydie Polfer (Luxembourg) - MP; former Foreign Minister
Andrew Puddephatt (United Kingdom) - Director, Global Partners & Associated Ltd.
Vesna Pusić (Croatia) - MP, President of the National Committee for Monitoring the EU Accession Negotiations and Professor of Sociology, University of Zagreb
