ECFR Annual Council Meeting

The ECFR Annual Council Meeting is one of the leading conferences on Europe’s foreign policy.

This year, the meeting took place at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, on 25-26 June.

The main topic of this year's form was“Empowering Europeans” in an era of great power competition. Taking place just a few weeks after the European Parliamentary elections, the first after the UK leaves the EU and in the 10th anniversary year of the Treaty of Lisbon, 2019 will be a significant year for the continent. The event was open to Council Members of ECFR.

Agenda

Tuesday, 25 June

12.45 – 13.00

Opening

Auditorium 2

Welcome: Teresa Gouveia, Member, Board of Trustees, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation; Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Portugal

Carl Bildt, Co-Chair, ECFR; Former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sweden
Lykke Friis, Co-Chair, ECFR; German Correspondent, Berlingske

13:00 – 13.15

Scene-setter | What Europeans want in the World

Auditorium 2

Mark Leonard, Co-Founder and Director, ECFR

13.15 – 14.30

Plenary session | Europe voted

Auditorium 2

Kostas Bakoyannis, Mayor-Elect, City of Athens
Franziska Brantner, Member of the Bundestag, Germany
Marta Dassù, Senior Director, European Affairs, The Aspen Institute; Editor-in-Chief, Aspenia
Roland Freudenstein, Policy Director, Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies
Sylvie Kauffmann, Editorial Director, Le Monde
Eva Maydell, Member of the European Parliament
Moderator: Susi Dennison, Director, European Power programme, ECFR

14.45 – 16.00

Plenary session | European sovereignty in a multipolar world

Auditorium 2

Miroslav Lajčák, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Slovakia
Andrzej Olechowski, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Poland
Augusto Santos Silva, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Portugal
Shahin Vallée, Economist, London School of Economics
Moderator: Jeremy Shapiro, Research Director, ECFR

16.30 – 17.30

Breakout sessions

Preparing for an Internet Cold War

Foyer Room

Claudia Azevedo, Chief Executive Officer, Sonae
Alex Klimburg, Director, Cyber Policy and Resilience Program, The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies
Megha Rajagopalan, International Correspondent, BuzzFeed News
Alex Romero, CEO and Founder, Alto Data Analytics
Moderator: José Ignacio Torreblanca, Head of Madrid Office, ECFR

EU-UK security cooperation after Brexit

Auditorium 2

Douglas Alexander, Chair, Board of Trustees, Unicef United Kingdom
Jo Johnson, Member of Parliament, Former Government Minister, United Kingdom
Manuel Lafont Rapnouil, Head of Paris Office, ECFR
Kalypso Nicolaïdis, Professor of International Relations and Director, Centre for International Studies, University of Oxford
Moderator: Almut Möller, Head of Berlin Office, ECFR

Border revision no longer a taboo

Auditorium 3

Ditmir Bushati, Member of Parliament, Former Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Albania
Nicu Popescu, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Moldova
Yauheni Preiherman, Founder and Director, Minsk Dialogue Council on International Relations
Kurt Volker, Executive Director, McCain Institute for International Leadership, Arizona State University
Moderator: Josef Janning, Head of Berlin Office, ECFR

17.35 - 18.05

In conversation

Auditorium 2

Mark Leonard, Co-Founder and Director, ECFR
George Soros, Founder and Chairman, Open Society Foundations

18.15 - 19.15

Sunset chat | Is Europe on the road to unfreedom? 30 years since 1989

Open Air Amphitheatre

Ivan Krastev, Board Member, ECFR; Chairman, Centre for Liberal Strategies
Edward Luce, Washington Columnist and US National Editor, Financial Times
Karolina Wigura, Head, Political Section, Kultura Liberalna
Moderator: Lykke Friis, Co-Chair, ECFR; German Correspondent, Berlingske

20.00

Gala dinner

Palacio das Necessidades, Largo Necessidades 58

Welcome: Augusto Santos Silva, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Portugal

Keynote: John Mearsheimer, R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science; Co-Director, Program on International Security Policy, University of Chicago

Moderator: Mabel van Oranje, Emeritus Chair, ECFR; Chair, Girls Not Brides

Wednesday, 26 June

8.00 – 8.45

New Council Members coffee (Optional)

Room 4

Hosted by:
Sylvie Kauffman, Chair of Membership Committee, ECFR
Alba Lamberti, Deputy Director, ECFR
Ian Clarkson, Chair of Executive Committee, ECFR

9.00 – 10.15

Plenary session | In a world of trade wars

Auditorium 2

Anu Bradford, Professor of Law and International Organization, Columbia Law School
Andrey Kortunov, Director General, Russian International Affairs Council
Marietje Schaake, Member of the European Parliament
Helle Thorning-Schmidt, CEO, Save the Children International; Former Prime Minister, Denmark
Moderator: Anthony Dworkin, Senior Policy Fellow, ECFR

10.15 – 11.30

Plenary session | US foreign policy under the next American president

Auditorium 2

Sarah Margon, Washington Director, Human Rights Watch
Ben Rhodes, Co-Chair, National Security Action; Former Deputy National Security Advisor, United States
Amanda Sloat, Robert Bosch Senior Fellow, Center on the United States and Europe, Brookings; Former Deputy Assistant Secretary, Southern Europe and Eastern Mediterranean Affairs, United States Department of State
Jake Sullivan, Co-Chair, National Security Action; Former Senior Policy Advisor to the Hillary Clinton Campaign
Moderator: Alexander Soros, Deputy Chair, Open Society Foundations

11.30 – 11.45

Keynote speech | Africa and Europe in a multipolar world

Auditorium 2

Introduction: Teresa Gouveia, Member, Board of Trustees, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation; Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Portugal

Manuel Domingos Augusto, Minister of External Relations, Angola

12.00 – 13.15

Breakout sessions

Meltdown in the Middle East: Europe’s diminishing leverage

Auditorium 2

Mohamed El Baradei, Director-General Emeritus, International Atomic Energy Agency
Nickolay Mladenov, UN Special Coordinator, Middle East Peace Process; Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bulgaria
Delphine O, Secretary General, United Nations Forum for Gender Equality
Matthew Spence, Professor, Arizona State University; Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, United States
Moderator: Julien Barnes-Dacey, Director, Middle East and North Africa programme, ECFR

Western Balkans and the cost of non-enlargement

Room 4

Srdjan Darmanović, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Montenegro
Remzi Lani, Director, Albanian Media Institute
Florence Mangin, Ambassador of France to Portugal
Hedvig Morvai, Director, Strategy and Europe, ERSTE Stiftung
Moderator: Vessela Tcherneva, Deputy Director, ECFR

The future of philanthropy

Foyer Room

Sandra Breka, Member, Board of Management, Robert Bosch Stiftung
Goran Buldioski, Co-Director, Open Society Initiative for Europe
Isabel Mota, President, Board of Directors, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
Moderator: Anna Kuchenbecker, Senior Director, Strategic Partnerships, ECFR

13.20 – 13.40

Closing session | Future EU: drawing a manifesto for the next HR/VP

Auditorium 2

Carl Bildt, Co-Chair, ECFR; Former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sweden

Generously hosted by

In cooperation with

Speakers

Douglas Alexander

Chair, Board of Trustees, Unicef United Kingdom

Manuel Domingos Augusto

Minister of External Relations, Angola

Claudia Azevedo

Chief Executive Officer, Sonae

Kostas Bakoyannis

Mayor-Elect, City of Athens

Julien Barnes-Dacey

Director, Middle East and North Africa programme, ECFR

Carl Bildt

Co-Chair, ECFR; Former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sweden

Anu Bradford

Professor of Law and International Organization, Columbia Law School

Franziska Brantner

Member of the Bundestag, Germany

Sandra Breka

Member, Board of Management, Robert Bosch Stiftung

Goran Buldioski

Co-Director, Open Society Initiative for Europe

Ditmir Bushati

Member of Parliament, Former Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Albania

Ian Clarkson

Chair of Executive Committee, ECFR

Marta Dassù

Senior Director, European Affairs, The Aspen Institute; Editor-in-Chief, Aspenia

Susi Dennison

Director, European Power programme, ECFR

Anthony Dworkin

Senior Policy Fellow, ECFR

Mohamed El Baradei

Director-General Emeritus, International Atomic Energy Agency

Roland Freudenstein

Policy Director, Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies

Lykke Friis

Co-Chair, ECFR; German Correspondent, Berlingske

Teresa Gouveia

Member, Board of Trustees, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation; Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Portugal

Josef Janning

Head of Berlin Office, ECFR

Jo Johnson

Member of Parliament, Former Government Minister, United Kingdom

Sylvie Kauffmann

Editorial Director, Le Monde

Alex Klimburg

Director, Cyber Policy and Resilience Program, The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies

Ivan Krastev

Board Member, ECFR; Chairman, Centre for Liberal Strategies

Andrey Kortunov

Director General, Russian International Affairs Council

Anna Kuchenbecker

Senior Director, Strategic Partnerships, ECFR

Manuel Lafont Rapnouil

Head of Paris Office, ECFR

Miroslav Lajčák

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Slovakia

Alba Lamberti

Deputy Director, ECFR

Remzi Lani

Director, Albanian Media Institute

Mark Leonard

Co-Founder and Director, ECFR

Edward Luce

Washington Columnist and US National Editor, Financial Times

Florence Mangin

Ambassador of France to Portugal

Eva Maydell

Member of the European Parliament

John Mearsheimer

R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science; Co-Director, Program on International Security Policy, University of Chicago

Nickolay Mladenov

UN Special Coordinator, Middle East Peace Process; Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bulgaria

Almut Möller

Head, ECFR Berlin

Isabel Mota

President, Board of Directors, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

Hedvig Morvai

Director, Strategy and Europe, ERSTE Stiftung, Serbia

Kalypso Nicolaïdis

Professor of International Relations and Director, Centre for International Studies, University of Oxford

Delphine O

Secretary General, United Nations Forum for Gender Equality

Andrzej Olechowski

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Poland

Yauheni Preiherman

Founder and Director, Minsk Dialogue Council on International Relations

Nicu Popescu

Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Moldova

Megha Rajagopalan

International Correspondent, BuzzFeed News

Ben Rhodes

Co-Chair, National Security Action; Former Deputy National Security Advisor, United States

Alex Romero

CEO and founder, Alto Data Analytics

Augusto Santos Silva

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Portugal

Marietje Schaake

Member of the European Parliament

Jeremy Shapiro

Research Director, ECFR

Amanda Sloat

Robert Bosch Senior Fellow, Center on the United States and Europe, Brookings; Former Deputy Assistant Secretary, Southern Europe and Eastern Mediterranean Affairs, United States Department of State