Friends of Europe

Friends of Europe is a well-connected lobby group whose Secretary General is lobbyist Giles Merritt. In June 2005 Friends of Europe ran an 'Atlantic Rendez-Vous Satellite Debate' titled 'After the EU-US Summit: Where do we go from here? Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - Brussels/Washington DC'.

The guest list shows the connections of Merritt and Friends of Europe. Of significance is the presence of John Houston of lobby firm Houston Consulting Europe along with several of his financial service clients.

People

President

Viscount Etienne DAVIGNON

Praesidium

Pat COX | Jean-Luc DEHAENE Baron Daniel JANSSEN Pascal LAMY António VITORINO

Trustees

Miguel Angel AGUILAR Edmond ALPHANDERY Giuliano AMATO Michel BARNIER Enrique BARON CRESPO Carl BILDT Joachim BITTERLICH Jean-Louis BOURLANGES Laurens Jan BRINKHORST Elmar BROK John BRUTON Günter BURGHARDT Paolo CECCHINI Henning CHRISTOPHERSEN Robert COX Loyola de PALACIO Baron Philippe de SCHOUTHEETE de TERVARENT Yves-Thibault de SILGUY Anna DIAMANTOPOULOU Uffe ELLEMANN-JENSEN Franz FISCHLER Monica FRASSONI Catherine GERNAY Elizabeth GUIGOU Toomas Hendrik Ilves Sandra KALNIETE Wim KOK Horst Günter KRENZLER Vytautas LANDSBERGIS Spiro LATSIS Philippe LEMAITRE Bruno LIEBHABERG Erkki LIIKANEN Robert MANCHIN Peter MANDELSON Erika MANN Stefano MICOSSI John MONKS Mario MONTI Riccardo PERISSICH Alojz PETERLE Paul REVAY Eberhard RHEIN Keith RICHARDSON Michel ROCARD Jacek SARYUSZ-WOLSKI Eduardo SERRA Javier SOLANA Dirk STERCKX Karel VAN MIERT

Team

Giles MERRITT Geert CAMI Nathalie FURRER Catherine GERNAY Philippe LEMAITRE Dominique OSTYN Keith RICHARDSON Heidi VIRONEN

Funding

Friends of Europe has two kinds of membership, individual and 'VIP'. VIP members are described as 'partners' and include a range of corporations and neoliberal think tanks from throughout Europe.

As listed on their website:

• Adecco http://www.adecco.com
• Alliance http://www.healthandthefuture.org
• APCO Europe http://www.apco-europe.com/
• APEAL http://www.apeal.org
• AREVA http://www.areva.com
• BEDA http://www.beda.org
• BP http://www.bp.com
• BT http://www.bt.com/aboutbt
• Cargill http://www.cargill.com
• Cleary Gottlieb http://www.cgsh.com/
• Clingendael Institute - The Netherlands http://www.clingendael.nl
• Croplife International http://www.croplife.org/
• Deutsche Post World Net http://www.deutschepost.de
• Diplomatic Academy of Vienna http://www.da-vienna.ac.at
• Economic Development Foundation (IKV) - Turkey http://www.ikv.org.tr/ikv-eng/ikv-eng.html
• EICTA http://www.eicta.org
• Elcano Royal Institute http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/
• Euractiv.com http://www.euractiv.com/
• EuroMetaux http://www.eurometaux.org
• Europe Information Service http://www.eisnet.eis.be/
• European Business Summit http://www.ebsummit.org
• European Commission http://www.europa.eu.int/
• European Communication Strategies http://www.cs-brussels.com
• European Institute - Bulgaria http://www.europeaninstitute.net
• European Movement - Cyprus http://www.europeanmovement.org/members.cfm?mem_cyen=Cyprus
• European Movement - Denmark http://www.europabevaegelsen.dk/index.asp?languageid=33
• European Movement - Estonia http://www.euroopaliikumine.ee/english.html
• European Movement - Finland http://www.suomeneurooppaliike.fi/englanniksi.html
• European Movement - Lithuania http://www.europeanmovement.org/members.cfm?mem_cyen=Lithuania
• European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) http://www.ewea.org/
• ExxonMobil http://www.exxonmobil.com/
• Forum for European Journalism Students (FEJS) http://www.fejs.org
• Friedrich Ebert Stiftung - Czech Republic http://www.fes.de/intro_en.html
• Gellis Communications http://www.gellis.com
• Hanns Seidel Stiftung - Germany http://www.hss.de/homepage-e.shtml
• Hellenic Foundation for EU and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) http://www.eliamep.gr/main.asp?cat=1&exc=true
• Hewitt http://www.hewitt.com
• IBM http://www.ibm.com
• Institute for European and International Studies http://www.ieis.lu/frames/outer.htm
• Institute of European Affairs - Ireland http://www.iiea.com/about.html
• Institute of International Affairs - Latvia www.lai.lv/Kopaa_ANG.html
• Institute of International and Strategic Studies Portugal http://www.ieei.pt/english/index.php?id=1
• Institute of International Relations - Czech Republic http://www.iir.cz/uk/uvod.htm
• Institute of World Economics - Hungary http://www.vki.hu/eindex.shtml
• Intel http://www.intel.com
• Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale (ISPI) http://www.ispionline.it
• McKinsey & Company http://www.mckinsey.com/
• Microsoft http://www.microsoft.com
• Novartis http://www.novartis.com/
• Open Society Foundation Sofia - Bulgaria http://www.osf.bg/en/mission.html
• Pfizer http://www.pfizer.com/main.html
• Real Instituto Elcano http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/default_eng.asp
• Roland Berger Strategy Consultants http://www.rolandberger.com
• Royal Institute for International Relations http://www.irri-kiib.be/events.htm
• Shell International http://www.shell.com
• Slovak Foreign Policy Association - Slovak Republic http://www.sfpa.sk/index.php?jazyk=en
• SONY http://www.sony.com
• Swiss Life http://www.swisslife.com/slcom/en/home.html
• Telefonica http://www.telefonica.com/home_eng.shtml
• The Coca Cola Company http://www.coca-cola.com
• The Foreign Policy Centre http://www.fpc.org.uk
• The Konrad Adenauer Stiftung http://www.kas.de/proj/home/home/9/2/about_us-1/
• The Stefan Batory Foundation http://www.batory.org.pl/english/
• Top Interim http://www.topinterim.be
• Toyota http://www.toyota-europe.com
• T-Systems A division of Deutsche Telekom, http://www.t-systems.de
• Unilever http://www.unilever.com
• Veolia Environnement http://www.veoliaenvironnement.com/
• Visa Europe http://www.visaeu.com/
• Volvo http://www.volvo.com

Programme

[1]

Registration

14:30 - 15:00 Session I: How many EU - US fences still need mending?

15:00 - 16:00 Moderator: Pat Cox & Giles Merritt (Brussels), Esther Brimmer (Washington, DC)

Speakers: Ronald D. Asmus , Executive Director of the Transatlantic Center, Brussels , German Marshall Fund of the United States

Robert A. Bradtke , Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs , US Department of State

Roger Cohen , Journalist , The New York Times

Michael Leigh , Deputy Director General for Europe & Central Asia, Near & Middle East, Southern Mediterranean , European Commission, DG External Relations

Erika Mann , Member, Committee on Industry, Research and Energy , European Parliament

Richard Wright , Director North America , European Commission

Coffee break

16:00 - 16:15

Session II: Does the transatlantic economy need a new US-EU deal on governance? 16:15 - 17:15 Moderator: Pat Cox & Giles Merritt (Brussels), Esther Brimmer (Washington, DC) Speakers: Pervenche Berès , Chairwoman , European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs Don Bonker , Executive Vice-President , APCO John Bruton , Head of the Delegation , Delegation of the European Commission to the United States Peter Chase , Director of the Office of European Union and Regional Affairs , U.S.Department of State Matthias Ruete , Director in charge of coordination for competitiveness , European Commission, Directorate General Enterprise and Industry Coffee break 17:15 - 17:30 Session III: How free is the transatlantic market in financial services? 17:30 - 18:30 Moderator: John Houston (Brussels), Esther Brimmer (Washington, DC) Speakers: Paul Arlman , Secretary General , Federation of European Securities Exchanges Don Bonker , Executive Vice-President , APCO Worldwide Wilbur Monroe , Deputy Director of the Office of International Banking and Securities Markets , U.S. Department of the Treasury Ieke van den Burg MEP , Member, Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs , European Parliament David Wright , Director of Financial Markets , European Commission Networking Cocktail 18:30 - 19:30

contact details

Website [2]