Belgian think tank
EPC logo
EPC conference centre
The premises of the European Policy Centre on Rue du Trone 14?16 in Brussels (Belgium).
The
European Policy Centre
(
EPC
) is a
Brussels
-based
not-for-profit
think tank
on
European Union affairs
, founded in 1997.
Activities
[
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]
Under the presidency of
Brigid Laffan
, the EPC's Chief Executive is Fabian Zuleeg, a German economist. Its Director of Studies is Janis A. Emmanouilidis, a German-Greek political scientist and economist. The EPC's 33 analysts come from a range of backgrounds. They carry out research and analysis, organise expert meetings and events with the main stakeholders concerned with EU and global affairs and produce policy analysis online and in print. The EPC also works with 28 senior advisers and 14 academic fellows.
The EPC's policy work is organised under six main programmes:
- Europe's Political Economy (led by Georg Riekeles, Associate Director)
- Europe in the World (led by Ricardo Borges de Castro, Associate Director)
- Social Europe and Well-Being (led by Elizabeth Kuiper, Associate Director)
- European Politics and Institutions (led by Corina Stratulat, Associate Director)
- European Migration and Diversity (led by Alberto Horst-Neidhardt, Senior Policy Analyst)
- Sustainable Prosperity for Europe (led by Stefan Sipka, Senior Policy Analyst)
In addition, the EPC runs the Connecting Europe project (supported by the Mercator Foundation), which promotes sustainable exchanges between civil society initiatives throughout Europe and the policy community in Brussels.
Past speakers include
Ursula von der Leyen
, President of the European Commission;
Margaret Chan
, former Director-General of the
World Health Organization
;
Josep Borrell
EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Vice President of the European Commission;
Jacques Delors
, former President of the European Commission;
Mario Draghi
, former Prime Minister of Italy and former President of the
European Central Bank
;
Jean-Claude Juncker
, former President of the
European Commission
;
Christine Lagarde
, President of the
European Central Bank
and former Director of the
International Monetary Fund
;
Martin Schulz
, former President of the European Parliament;
Salil Shetty
, former Secretary General of
Amnesty International
;
Donald Tusk
, former President of the
European People's Party
Group and former
President of the European Council
; as well as numerous high-ranking ministers and officials from a wide range of EU and non-EU countries.
Funding
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]
The EPC's funding comes from a number of sources, including its strategic partners: the
King Baudouin Foundation
, based in Belgium and
Stiftung Mercator
, based in Germany, and the
European Union
's CERV Programme. It also comes from membership fees, and grants from the EU and other organisations. Details of these are published on its website.
[1]
Governance
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]
Brigid Laffan
is President of the European Policy Centre and chairs its Strategic Council, which includes many prominent EU figures:
Jean-Claude Juncker
,
Frederica Mogherini
,
Joaquin Almunia
,
Maria Joao Rodrigues
,
Lord Kerr of Kinlochard
,
Janez Poto?nik
,
Andre Sapir
,
Wolfgang Schussel
,
Rita Sussmuth
,
Marta Dassu
,
Catherine Day
,
Monica Frassoni
, and
Nathalie Tocci
among many others.
The EPC's General Assembly and Governing Board are chaired by Declan Kelleher, Former Irish Ambassador to the EU and to China.
Former Presidents of the European Policy Centre include
Herman Van Rompuy
,
Peter Sutherland
(1998?2011) and
Philippe Maystadt
(2011?2014). Former Chairs of the Governing Board include David O'Sullivan, former EU Ambassador to the US, Hywel Ceri Jones, founder of the Erasmus Programme;
Antonio Vitorino
, former European Commissioner; and
Meglena Kuneva
, former European Commissioner.
Membership
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]
The EPC has a membership of around 350 organisations, which spans the spectrum of stakeholders, from diplomatic embassies to companies, non-governmental organisations, and regional and local authorities.
[2]
Members actively contribute to events, workshops, task forces and roundtables.
Tobacco companies
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]
In January 2010, research was published alleging that in the 1990s EPC helped
tobacco companies
, as well as other industry groups,
lobby
"to ensure that the EU framework for evaluating policy options emphasised business interests at the expense of public health".
[3]
[4]
[5]
References
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External links
[
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]
Media related to
European Policy Centre
at Wikimedia Commons