The EU-US Centre-Right Think Tank Conference

On 12 and 13 October 2010, the CES, in cooperation with the International Republican Institute (IRI), organized a two day centre-right think tank conference with the aim to reassess the transatlantic relationship after the Lisbon Treaty, and governance of the Obama administration a year and a half after coming into office and the common challenges that the West is facing.

The event took place in Brussels – at the CES headquarters and the Stanhope Hotel. The CES had the pleasure to host prominent speakers from Europe and the USA.

The welcome speech was given by Wilfried Martens, President of the EPP and the CES. Mr. President highlighted the view that American and EU Conservatives and Christian Democrats should engage in active communication and cooperation in present global situation. The financial crisis and its aftermath, the shift of power from West to East, the need to counter terrorism, demographic changes and the new challenges posed by international migration are issues that will have to be addressed by the West and undoubtedly require a common effort by the Centre-Right from both sides of the Atlantic. These efforts should also be extended to the level of think tanks and political foundations.

The two day conference was divided into five panels. The first open roundtable discussion was represented by: Wilfried Martens, Klaus Welle, Secretary General of the European Parliament, Elmar Brok, Member of the European Parliament, Myra Miller, Senior Vice President of the Winston Group, Mark Milke, Director of Alberta Policy Studies at the Fraser Institute and was moderated by: Antonio López-Istúriz White, Member of the European Parliament, EPP Secretary General and CES Secretary Treasurer. The main subject of the debate concerned The State of the Unions: Current developments in the EU and North America.

The second panel included speakers: Jim Kolbe, a Senior Transatlantic Fellow for the German Marshall Fund of the US and former US Congressman, John Noonan, Policy Advisor, Foreign Policy Initiative, Peter Weilemann, Director of the Office of KAS in Brussels, Tunne Kelam, Member of the European Parliament and was moderated by: Nikolaos Tzifakis Deputy-Director of the Konstantinos Karamanlis Institute for Democracy. The panelists exchanged opinions regarding upcoming security challenges: the future of NATO and a transatlantic Eastern policy.

The next roundtable discussion was moderated by Werner Fasslabend, President, Political Academy of the ÖVP, and the panelists were: Roland Freudenstein, CES Deputy Director and Head of Research, and Seth Cropsey, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute. They exchanged opinions regarding Islam and the West: Politics and Religion in Transatlantic Relations.

On the second day, the first roundtable discussion concerned A Green Economy: Fighting Climate Change and it was represented by Christian Kremer, EPP Deputy Secretary General, Myra Miller, Senior Vice President of the Winston Group, and Margaritis Schinas, Deputy Head, Bureau of European Policy Advisers. The discussion was moderated by: Raymond Gradus, Director CDA Research Institute.

The afternoon of the second day the event took place at the Stanhope Hotel. The main subject of the discussion was Between G2 and G20: the transatlantic economy and global governance. The welcoming speeches were given by EPP and CES President, Wilfred Martens, and Lorne Craner, IRI President. The panel was chaired by Tomi Huhtanen, CES Director, and the panelists were Olof Ehrenkrona, Political Adviser and Chief of Staff, Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and CES Board Member, Godelieve Quisthoudt-Rowohl, Member of the European Parliament, Maurice Thompson, Citi Vice Chairman, and Brian Lee Crowley, Managing Director, Macdonald-Laurier Institute. Lindsay Lloyd, IRI Regional Director Europe, moderated the debate.

The title of the last panel was: Is there a Freedom Agenda? Western values for the 21st century and was represented by J. Scott Carpenter, Keston Family Fellow, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Javier Fernández-Lasquetty, Minister of Healthcare for the Region of Madrid, Foundation for Social Research and Analysis Board Member, Alan Mendoza, Executive Director of the Henry Jackson Society, Žiga Turk, Secretary General of Reflection Group and it was moderated by: Roland Freudenstein, CES Deputy Director and Head of Research.

These two discussions were concluded by Jim Kolbe, the Senior Transatlantic fellow for the German Marshall Fund of the United States and former US Congressman. He reiterated the need for these systems of values to be supported in order to promote freedom on a global scale.