friends of europe

President Etienne Davignon

Board of Trustees Joaquin Altnunia.

László Andor

Michel Barnier

Enrique Barón Crespo

Xavier Bettel

Carl Bildt

Joachim Bitterlich

Franziska Katharina Brantner

Elmar Srok

John Bruton

Carme Chacón Piqueras

Dacian Ciólas

Pat Cox

Robert Cox

Daniel Daianu

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer

Anna Diamantopoulou

Mikołaj Dowgielewicz

Sorin Ducaru

Tanja Fajon

Monica Frassoni

Stefan Füle

Catherine Gernay

Ana Gomes

Sylvie Goulard

Elisabeth Guigou

Antonio Guterres

Johannes Hahn

Toomas Hendrik Ilves

Baron Daniel Janssen

Jean-Pierre Jouyet

Sony Kapoor

Jyrki Katainen

Miroslav Lajčák

Pascal Lamy

Spiro Lätsis

Yves Leterme

Linas Antanas Linkevičius

Philip Lowe

Cecilia Malmström

Mario Monti

Alojz Peterle

Andris Piebalgs

Hans-Gert Pöttering

Paul Révay

Koos Ricllelle

Jacek Saryusz-Wolski

Marietje Schaake

Jamie Shea

Javier Solana

Anna Terrón

Frans Van Daele

Frank Vandenbroucke

Herman Van Rompuy

Androulla Vassiliou

Guy Verhofstadt

Veronika Wand-Danielsson

Secretary General Giles Merritt

Co-Founder & Director Geert Carni

Dr. Cecilia Malmström Commissioner for Trade

European Commission Rue de la Loi, 200

1049, Brussels

_ Brussels, 06 August 2015

Ďecr ÍM I am writing to update you on Friends of Europe's most prestigious events of the year - the State of Europe and President's Dinner - that will be co-hosted by the Luxembourg Presidency of the EU on October 21st and 22nd. They will mark the closing of Friends of Europe's 15th anniversary year, bringing together several hundred of Europe's most influential policymakers, civil society and business leaders.

As a spin-off of your participation at the event, we would be delighted if you would agree to a 30-minute spotlight conversation to be streamed live from a studio at the Palais d'Egmont. The conversation is inspired by the Luxembourg Presidency's priority of connecting the EU with its citizens, and would be formatted around questions that have come directly from the European people, to be moderated by Euronews presenter Chris Burns. The debate will be broadcast on the websites of Friends of Europe and Debating Europe, with a million viewers from across Europe - many of whom will have submitted questions for your interview. The timing of this live-streamed debate can be organised around the time of your participation at the roundtable itself. This is a unique opportunity at what is a very high-level conference to involve the citizens of Europe in EU policy and for them to learn how your role as Commissioner affects their everyday life.

The programme for the event, under the heading "Addressing Europe's Crises: Six Policy Crossroads", will address issues ranging from restoring trust in the EU, catching up with the Digital Era, recovering global influence and resolving the continent's infrastructural challenges. The roundtable will be a high-level meeting of the minds, taking the form of a brainstorm with lively exchanges throughout the day between the top participants coming from all over Europe and beyond. We would be delighted if you would participate at this roundtable, or at least part of it. As you will see, there are plenaries and parallel sessions which you will surely find a great interest in.

Confirmed participants at the State of Europe include HRH King Philippe of Belgium; Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy; Estonian President lives; former Prime Ministers Bildt, Monti and Van Rompuy; European Ministers from many member states; Franziska Brantner, Member of the Bundestag; Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, CEO of Solvay; Mary Fitzgerald, Journalist, contributing author of 'The Libyan Revolution and its aftermath' and European Young Leader; Sylvie Goulard and Marietje Schaake, members of the European Parliament; Jean-Paul Kress, President and CEO of Sanofi Pasteur MSD; Pascal Lamy, Former Director-General of the World Trade Organisation; André Loesekrug, Founder and Managing Partner of A CAPITAL; Antonia Mészáros, TV anchor, news and current affairs at ATV; Nina Rawal, European Young Leader and Women's Forum "Rising Talent"; Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, President of the Dutch Advisory Council on International Affairs and former NATO Secretary General; Sandra Polaski, Deputy Director General for Policy at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Michael Diedring, Secretary General of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE). You will find attached the programme of the event and the list of currently confirmed participants, we should still confirm high level flyers, EU commissioners and ministers.

The day's discussions will be preceded by our annual President's Dinner on Wednesday 21st October, co-hosted by our President, Belgian Minister of State and former European Commission Vice-President Etienne Davignon, and Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister of Luxembourg (Presidency). The dinner offers some "intellectual beef" coupled with a degree of entertainment.

Best regards.

Nathalie Furrer Director Friends of Europe

Friends of Europe, a part of the Europe's World Group, is a leading think-tank that aims to stimulate new thinking on global and European issues that span political, economic, social and environmental challenges.

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Ref. Ares(2015)3363266 - 12/08/2015