AnNual Report 2015

EUROPEAN LIBERAL FORUM 

AnNual 

Report 

2015

WELCOME 

Annual Report 

2015 

European Liberal Forum 

Copyright 

© 2016 

European Liberal Forum asbl. 

All rights reserved. Content is subject to copyright. Any use and re-use requires approval. 

This publication was co-funded by the European Parliament. The European Parliament is not responsible 

for the content of this publication, or for any use that may be made of it.

WELCOME 

Contents 

The ELF Annual Report 2015 

Welcome 02 

Letter From the President 04 

Foreword by the Executive Director 05 

Get to Know Us 06 

Our Brochures | Connect With Us 07 

Where Did You Meet Us in 2015? 08 

Our Focus 09 

Liberal Solutions for the European Economy 10 

TTIP Event Series 11 

Energy Security Series 15 

(In)Equality for All? 

A Liberal Discussion About Socio-Economic Fairness 20 

The Future of the European Union 22 

Re-imagining Europe: The Liberal Way 

Ralf Dahrendorf Taskforce Policy Recommendations 23 

European Defence Series 25 

Promoting the Rule of Law in Europe 28 

Member State Violations Against Democratic Principles 

What Role Should the EU Have? 29 

The Lesser Evil. Security Versus Liberty 

Politics and Morals in Times of Terrorism 31 

Accountability in Politics 33 

Capacity-Building 36 

Innovative Campaign and Communication Tools 37 

List of all projects 40 

About Us 41 

Member Organisations 42 

List of all Members 79 

The Board of Directors 81 

The Secretariat 83 

Imprint 85 

3 

European Liberal Forum / Annual Report 2015 

welcome

WELCOME 

Letter From 

the President 

Felicita Medved 

The year 2015 was filled with extraordinary 

challenges for Europe. 

Terrorist attacks in Paris, 

Copenhagen, and on a Thalys 

train in France shook Europe to 

its core. Combined with the financial 

crisis in Greece, ongoing unrest in 

Syria and Ukraine and the largest refugee 

crisis since World War II, this has caused rising 

tensions across the continent. 

Nonetheless, we are still together. Europeans continue to 

join hands and work together to face the challenges of our 

time. European leaders still meet on a regular basis, European 

parliamentarians still debate new initiatives and European 

citizens increasingly participate in the democratic 

debate. This is the basis of the European ideal and something 

that we as Liberals wholeheartedly support. 

In order to ensure the idea of a common Europe remains 

pertinent, it is important that we promote the value of European 

integration and that we seek to expand and deepen 

its benefits. This is where the European Liberal Forum 

plays an important role. Together with our members, we 

promote active citizenship, feed and facilitate discussion 

on European issues and contribute to building an open 

and liberal Europe. 

the future is being worked on 

and that there is a need for Liberals 

to be part of this. 

At ELF, we seek to inspire and support 

these developments. Our training 

and policy activities over the past 

year have again provided European politicians, 

policymakers and citizens with food for 

thought. In the coming years we will continue to do so 

and remain a strong advocate for European democracy, 

integration and active citizenship. 

This letter to the annual report is the last that I will have 

the honour of signing as president of ELF. I would therefore 

like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude 

to our members for the confidence that they have repeatedly 

placed in me. I am proud to be able to lead and represent 

our foundation during a period marked by the exceptional 

development of the organisation and the activities 

of the EU and beyond. 

I warmly thank my colleagues on the Board of Directors, 

our members and the entire staff of the Secretariat for the 

outstanding work carried out by them during my mandates. 

Let’s not forget that there is also reason for optimism. Last 

year saw the landmark climate change agreement in Paris 

(COP21), an expansion of the Eurozone, inspiring progress 

in the creation of an EU digital single market and the green 

shoots of an economic recovery throughout Europe. 

These things are not to be taken lightly. They indicate that 

Felicita Medved 

President 

4 


welcome

WELCOME 

Foreword by the 

Executive Director 

Susanne Hartig 

With the dust of the European 

elections finally settled, 2015 

was a year of forward movement. 

Liberals around Europe 

joined hands to think of new solutions 

for the challenges of the future. 

Despite difficult political conditions, 

we have been able to foster dialogue and 

infuse the public debate with Liberal ideas. 

ELF dedicated 2015 to the expansion of our policy work. 

With the support of our members, we have strengthened 

our role as an agenda-setting organisation and we are increasingly 

functioning as a platform for Liberal stakeholders 

in Europe. We have been involved at every single political 

level and hosted several Liberal heavyweights such as EU 

Commissioner Cecilia Malmström, Estonian Prime Minister 

Taavi Rõivas and ALDE Party President Hans van Baalen. 

In terms of publications, we were very pleased to see so 

many of our members working together on joint projects. 

This is the kind of pan-European dialogue that we aim to 

facilitate and we hope it inspires others to work in similar 

fashion. A textbook example of this cooperation materialised 

in the Ralf Dahrendorf Taskforce Policy Recommendations. 

This is a biannual project in which we, together with 

nine of our members, re-imagined the future of Europe. 

The Secretariat’s activities last year were centred around a 

classic Liberal theme: free trade. As part of Europe’s Liberal 

family, ELF is inherently in favour of exploring new trade 

opportunities and had in 2014 already started a series on 

the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) 

with the US. We continued this series in 2015 and organised 

another eight roundtables 

on TTIP in several European cities 

and even across the Atlantic. 

These events covered the trade 

deal, which is currently being negotiated, 

from angles as diverse as 

the automotive industry, transatlantic 

shipping and the creative industries. 

Together with our members, we also organised activities 

on a range of other issues, such as the refugee crisis, security 

and defence, digital policy and the rule of law. In the 

coming years we will seek to build on this work and expand 

our presence in these policy areas. By focussing on 

certain topics for a longer period of time, we would like to 

increase the expertise within ELF and create more visibility 

in policymaking circles. 

As we do our work, we are grateful for the unyielding support 

of our member organisations, the ELF Board, the ALDE 

Party and our partners in the Liberal groups in the European 

Parliament, Committee of the Regions, the Parliamentary 

Assembly of the Council of Europe, Liberal International and 

IFLRY. Furthermore, we would like to highlight our strong 

relations with external organisations, such as our partnership 

with AT&T. With our partners, we will continue to build 

a strong Liberal voice in Europe and contribute to a responsible, 

open, diverse and tolerant European civil society. 

Susanne Hartig 


5 


welcome

elf ANNUAL REPORt 


get to 

know us 

The EU alone has 500 million citizens, and ELF works both in the 

EU and in the European neighbourhood countries. Reaching as 

wide an audience as possible is our priority and you will find us on 

our website, as well as on social media and in print form. 

Click your way through to get to know us better! 

6

GET TO KNOW US 

Our Brochures 

EuropEan LibEraL Forum 

(2011-2014) 


Ralf Dahrendorf Roundtables 

Connect With Us 

Website 

Our website covers everything you could ever want to know about us. Read our event reports, download all our 

publications and find updated information about our Board, Secretariat and Member Organisations. 

Facebook 

Liking us on Facebook allows you to stay up to date with our work on a daily basis, all year round. Catch the latest 

photos from our events as they become available, get notifications when we organise an event near you. 

Twitter 

Do you have a question for us? Are you keen to follow the discussion at our events? Twitter lets you take 

part in an event, even if you aren’t in the city where it is happening. Join the conversation! 

YouTube 

Did you miss one of our events? Selected events are recorded and uploaded to our YouTube Channel. 

Check it out and you may be able to catch up with an event you couldn’t get to in person. 

LinkedIn 

Are you interested in staying in professional contact with ELF? Do you want to stay up to date with 

our activities? Follow us on LinkedIn at the click of a button. 

7 


GET TO KNOW US

GET TO KNOW US 

Where Did You Meet Us 

in 2015? 

ELF brings European politics closer to you 

In 2015 we travelled Europe to host workshops, roundtables and conferences, with the aim of getting 

citizens talking about the major political issues facing the EU. By taking European issues beyond Brussels we 

link EU matters with local realities. This map gives you an overview of where you might have met us in 2015. 

The 28 Member States 

of the European Union 

Norway 

Sweden 

Finland 

Estonia 

United 

Kingdom 

The 

Netherlands 

Belgium 

Switzerland 

Germany 

Slovenia 

Czech Republic 

Austria 

Poland 

Slovakia 

Hungary 

Moldova 

Ukraine 

new york city 

(USA) 

Serbia 

Bulgaria 

Washington D.C. 

(USA) 

Greece 

Turkey 

8 


GET TO KNOW US



Our Focus 


ELF’s work is organised around four focus areas. These are long-term focus 

areas which reflect core Liberal issues of strong European relevance. 

1 

Liberal Solutions 

for the European 

Economy 

2 

The Future of 

the European 

Union 

3 

Promoting Rule 

of Law in Europe 

4 

Capacity- 

Building 

9



Liberal Solutions 

for the 

European Economy 

1 

Europe focused much of its energy in 2015 on trade and economic growth. Liberals 

offer a unique vantage point on what it takes to bring energy and life back to 

the economies of Europe, and ELF devotes considerable attention to how Liberal 

solutions can help get the continent back to growth. The following pages provide a 

cross-section of ELF’s activities in this field. 

10

EVENT SERIES 

TTIP Event Series 


One of the most heavily debated issues in 2015 was TTIP, 

the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. The 

negotiations on a transatlantic trade agreement stirred 

emotions across the political spectrum and divided public 

opinion. The significant economic opportunities of a 

possible agreement prompted ELF to organise an event 

series to get a better picture of TTIP’s benefits and to feed 

the debate with facts. 

Nine events on TTIP were organised in several European 

cities and even across the Atlantic over the course of 2015. 

Covering a wide range of angles, ELF’s TTIP series gave a 

balanced overview of the magnitude of this package of 

measures and its social and geographical implications. 

One of the highlights of the series was an event 

with Liberal European Trade Commissioner Cecilia 

Malmström in New York on 24 September. The event 

was jointly hosted by ELF and Liberal International and 

took place on the fringes of the opening session of the 

United Nations General Assembly, at the Yale Club of New 

York City. 

In her position as TTIP negotiator-in-chief, Commissioner 

Malmström spoke before a crowd of diplomats, politicians, 

journalists and academics about the benefits of free 

trade, and TTIP more specifically. She also discussed the 

challenges and opportunities that lay ahead as two of the 

global superpowers decide on the economic future of 

their citizens. 

„ 

The negotiations on a transatlantic trade 

agreement stirred emotions across the political 

spectrum and divided public opinion. 

Prior to the event in New York, ELF had already organised a 

Ralf Dahrendorf Roundtable in Washington D.C. on 23 July. 

The seminar, “TTIP – What’s The Buzz in Europe?” was hosted 

on the fringes of the annual Transatlantic Week gathering, 

capitalising on an array of interesting TTIP voices. For this 

event, ELF brought together representatives from three of 

Europe’s largest political groups, the Liberals (ALDE), the 

Christian Conservatives (EPP) and Socialists (S&D). 

Liberal International President Juli Minoves, European Commissioner Cecilia Malmström 

and ELF President Felicita Medved in New York 

11 


Liberal Solutions for the European Economy

EVENT SERIES 



Adding insight on the progress of negotiations, Christian 

Burgsmüller Member of Commissioner Malmström’s 

Cabinet, joined the party political representatives for a 

two-hour exchange on TTIP from the vantage point of 

the EU. The Liberal ALDE Group expressed strong support 

for TTIP, with Group spokesperson Marietje Schaake 

MEP pointing out that “We need the EU and the US to 

work together to set higher standards worldwide when it 

comes to food safety, the environment, health or labour.” 

The event was organised with the support of ELF member 

organisation Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom 

and telecommunications company AT&T. 

In Europe, the series began with a Ralf Dahrendorf 

Roundtable on the effects of TTIP for consumers. What will 

the new transatlantic trade and investment partnership 

mean for European consumers? Will it change what you 

put on your dinner tables and what you will be able to 

find in the aisles of your local supermarket? At our event 

in Warsaw the panellists identified three reasons why 

TTIP is beneficial for European consumers and agriculture: 

consumer choice, lower food costs and greater EU 

competitiveness in agricultural exports. 

Interestingly, speakers on both sides of the TTIP agriculture 

debate agreed that a deal would mean greater choice. 

Agricultural researcher Dr Ruta Spiewak pointed out 

that a deal would mean a greater selection of low-end, 

more cost-efficient products, meaning European lowend 

brands would likely face stiff competition. Dr Spiewak 

argued that this would incite more citizens to buy cheap, 

US products. During the post-event discussion members 

of the audience gave their thoughts on the basic premise 

of increasing consumer choice, be it at the higher or 

lower end of the product scale. ALDE Committee of the 

Regions member Ossi Martikainen sees a definite chance 

that choice will increase, but cautioned against making 

concrete predictions on TTIP’s effect on consumer choice 

until the agreement has been negotiated. 

„ 

What will the new TTIP mean for 

European consumers? Will it change what you 

put on your dinner tables and what 

you will be able to find in the aisles of your 

local supermarket? 

Another major argument in favour of a TTIP chapter on 

agriculture is its promise to reduce transaction costs. This 

would result in less red tape, more universal standards and 

fewer non-tariff barriers. All of this promises to lower the 

cost of transatlantic trade, resulting in lower marginal costs 

for producers and potentially lower costs for the consumer. 

Ossi Martikainen MEP came with a very clear message for 

the roundtable audience: TTIP will not lower agricultural 

standards either in the EU nor the US. The agricultural 

production chain in each market is too different for this 

to happen. Instead, both regions will strive to agree on 

shared, high standards. 

ALDE CoR member Ossi Martikainen 

in Warsaw 

Marietje Schaake MEP 

in Washington 

12 



EVENT SERIES 



He stressed that Europe is a champion of high-end 

agricultural products, such as olive oil, spirits and 

chocolate, which sometimes face up to 30 % tariffs to 

enter the US market. Cutting these tariffs would go a 

long way to improving the competitiveness of Europe’s 

agricultural exports and would in turn allow EU farmers to 

feed profits back into EU-based agriculture. At the same 

time, EuroCommerce Vice President Renata Juszkiewicz 

made clear that a free trade agreement might well entail 

a process of consolidation for Polish farmers. Change can 

be tough for individual market actors, but as a whole, 

Europe stands to profit from an agriculture free-trade 

agreement with the US. 

Another notable event was organised in Helsinki 

on 27 November, with the support of Svenska 

Bildningsförbundet and FNF and FORES as partners. The 

discussion focussed on the stakes involved, the state 

of negotiations, and the hopes and fears raised by the 

process. With experts from across Europe, each bringing 

their significant expertise on the topics they touched 

upon, the seminar added a much-needed voice to the 

debate on TTIP, and brought a strongly Liberal viewpoint 

to the table. 

„ 

Europe and the rest of the world are 

experiencing an unprecedented change that 

affects our way of life, our societies, 

and business. 

Panel discussing the opportunities and threats of TTIP 

in Helsinki 

resistance among European and US citizens. Just a few 

weeks before, 150,000 people marched against TTIP in 

Berlin. When discussing free trade, critical voices must be 

taken seriously. The deal naturally needs popular support. 

On the other hand, the deal should not be resisted 

based on gut feeling or principle, but based on facts, the 

panellists reminded the audience. 

The discussion showed the long-term economic benefits 

of free trade are obvious. Free trade brings growth and 

development and works to unite the European and 

American markets, which together make up more than 

50 % of the world’s GDP. Many of the panellists were of the 

opinion that in the short term there could be a significant 

amount of losers, since many businesses would be more 

exposed to competition. Given the economic weight of 

the partners, the TTIP agreement would help to set global 

standards for world trade, including workplace safety, 

environmental protection and product quality. 

Europe and the rest of the world are experiencing an 

unprecedented change that affects our way of life, our 

societies, and business. Our world is becoming more 

global and therefore global structures are needed in 

order to make sure our values prevail, concluded the 

Chair of the Swedish People’s Party, Carl Haglund MP 

in his opening remarks. In his view, the TTIP deal plays a 

significant role in achieving this. 

The panel of very distinguished speakers served as 

a reminder that TTIP has awakened unprecedented 

The panellists reminded the audience that most people 

would likely agree that it better to let Europe and the US 

set these standards, rather than rapidly growing countries 

such as China and India. Political benefits are also very 

important, if not even more important. The influence of 

the West is shrinking on the world stage, and with that 

also the notion that Western values should be the norm. 

A free-trade treaty would reinforce Western liberalism and 

therefore be part of setting the political standards of the 

future when it comes to governance. 

13 



EVENT SERIES 



A common thread that emerged throughout the 

discussions is the need to have a balanced and fact-based 

debate. The greatest challenge to passing TTIP is not 

regulatory, but a matter of helping the European citizen 

see the potential TTIP has for the EU. There is a strong 

need to make the geopolitical and economic argument 

for TTIP in an accessible, practical way. By initiating this 

series of interactive roundtables, ELF contributed to the 

debate and provided a platform for a balanced discussion 

on transatlantic trade. 

Ralf Dahrendorf Roundtable 

TTIP – What Will It Mean for Europe’s Dinner Tables? 

14 April 2015 · Warsaw · Poland 


TTIP and Transatlantic Shipping 

1 May 2015 · Rotterdam · The Netherlands 


Vorfahrt Für TTIP? 

21 May 2015 · Stuttgart · Germany 


Global Implications for a Transatlantic Treaty? 

12 June 2015 · Zurich · Switzerland 


TTIP – What’s the Buzz in Europe? 

23 July 2015 · Washington D.C. · United States 

Isaiah Berlin Lecture 

With Liberal International 

24 July 2015 · New York · United States 


Can TTIP Protect European Creativity? 

4 June 2015 · Amsterdam · The Netherlands 

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership 

An Opportunity or a Threat? 

27 November 2015 · Helsinki · Finland 


Facing Facts: Public Procurement in TTIP 

4 December 2015 · Brussels · Belgium 

14 



Workshops & Policy Recommendations 

Energy Security 

Series 

Last year was a crucial year for the EU’s energy and climate 

policy. The Paris meeting in December elevated the place 

of climate change on the agenda, and the EU has already 

submitted its contribution for the 2030 climate and energy 

framework of 40 %-reduced greenhouse gas emissions. 

In parallel, the European Commission launched a 

Communication on the Energy Union. In addition, energy 

issues have been an important part of EU-Russia relations. 

The discussion of the relationship between energy 

security and the climate ambitions of the EU is therefore 

of the greatest importance. What are the characteristics of 

Europe’s dependency on foreign energy? How does the 

challenge differ between the different regions? What are 

the common European answers? 

shed light onto the debates and policies in Austria, 

Bulgaria and Sweden, countries that resemble one other 

in terms of population, but differ in most other areas. 

In Austria, discussions on energy security, given the 

country’s dependency on Russian gas, are combined with 

climate policies that are relatively high on the agenda, 

„ 

What are the characteristics of Europe’s 

dependency on foreign energy? How does the 

challenge differ between the different regions? 

What are the common European answers? 

To discuss these questions, ELF, together with FORES, 

NEOS Lab and FNF, organised three workshops, which 

culminated in a publication written by energy policy 

experts. Energy security and carbon emissions reduction 

discussions vary per individual European states, 

depending on each country’s different preconditions and 

perspectives. For this project, the three project partners 

although emissions reductions results are somewhat 

modest to date. In Bulgaria, the energy security risk is not 

only debated, but a reality: Russia created a “cold winter” 

in 2009 by interrupting the gas supply, an action which 

caused energy poverty, bringing people to the streets 

and ousting governments. In Sweden, the topic of energy 

security is almost absent, and the debate on climate and 

From left to right: Daniel Engström-Stenson (FORES), Elena Paltseva (SITE), Daniel Kaddik (FNF) and 

Rumiana Decheva (AEDH) in Sofia, Bulgaria 

15 





Series 

energy is focused on the future of nuclear power and 

reducing carbon emissions. These three cases give a 

sense of the realities of energy security around Europe. 

The first workshop, “Europe’s Energy – Security and 

Climate”, took place at the FORES premises in Stockholm 

on 29 April. During the workshop, participants heard 

presentations by Dr Chloe Le Coq, assistant professor 

at the SITE-institute, Samuel Ciszuk from the Swedish 

Energy Agency, and Katarina Areskoug Mascarenhas, 

Head of the European Commission office in Stockholm. 

In her presentation, Dr Le Coq defined energy security 

as “continuous availability of energy at affordable prices”, 

and highlighted that there is both an external dimension 

(related to energy imports), and an internal dimension 

(related to stability of energy within the country) to 

„ 

A better-coordinated energy policy would 

enable the EU to use its buying power to 

negotiate both supply and prices with Russia, 

which together with the integration of energy 

markets would substantially contribute 

to Europe’s energy security. 

energy security. Presenting preliminary conclusions from 

the introductory chapter of a forthcoming publication 

from ELF, she noted that the supply risks differ between 

countries, but also between energy sources. For instance, 

the risk related to gas, tends to be greater than the risk 

related to coal. In the subsequent discussion it was 

pointed out that, although the supply risks with coal are 

lesser, the environmental risks are significant. 

Samuel Ciszuk highlighted that the supply risks for 

Sweden are connected to the differing conditions in 

different sectors. For housing, the country operates in 

a regional market with little interference from external 

events, while the transport sectors are largely dependent 

on energy imports, not least crude oil. 

Katarina Areskoug Mascarenhas briefly presented the 

Commission’s proposal on the Energy Union, highlighting 

that the EU is very dependent on energy imports, and 

that safety of supply, infrastructure, energy efficiency, 

green energy, as well as research and development, all 

play an important role for Europe’s future energy policy. 

In the final discussion, participants raised the issue of 

using EU buying power as a foreign policy tool, given 

the diversification of energy sources would provide 

more options for energy supply, that could also increase 

opportunities to use energy policy to advance other 

interests. 

The next workshop, “Europe’s Energy Security and the 

Challenges for Bulgaria”, was organised in Bulgaria on 

9 September at the Representation of the European 

Commission in Sofia. 

Introducing the topic of energy security, Dr Elena 

Paltseva, assistant professor at the Stockholm Institute for 

Transition Economics, pointed out that external energy 

risks vary greatly both across EU Member States and 

across energy resources. And, whereas stable supplies of 

coal and oil could be easily ensured, European countries 

often depend on a single natural gas supplier. A bettercoordinated 

energy policy would enable the EU to use its 

buying power to negotiate both supply and prices with 

Russia, which together with the integration of energy 

markets would substantially contribute to Europe’s 

energy security. 

Attention should be given, however, to the weak links 

of the EU. At the beginning of the first working session 

Rumiana Decheva presented the preliminary findings of 

a case study research on the Bulgarian energy sector, part 

of an ELF publication on the European energy challenges. 

It became clear that the lack of practical implementation 

of EU legislation has led to overregulation of the 

country’s energy sector, preventing real competition. 

Compounded to the lack of energy interconnections 

with its neighbours, Bulgaria might be a stumbling block 

for the extension of the European Energy Union to the 

16 





Series 

Southeast. In this respect, regional cooperation initiatives 

should be fostered, as an interim step towards a betterintegrated 

European market. Such regional cooperation 

has been relatively successfully implemented in the 

Nordic countries, which have now almost fully integrated 

their energy markets, as noted by Daniel Engström, 

Programme Manager Energy and Climate at FORES, 

Sweden. 

Outlining the scope of the discussion in the second 

session, Dr Ronald J. Pohoryles of the ICCR Foundation 

emphasised on the need for the European Commission 

to foster the coordination of the 28 different national 

regulatory frameworks and the removal of the internal 

market barriers, which would be the clear path towards 

Europe’s sustainable energy security. In the discussions 

that followed, the participants concluded that the 

legislative implementation of the European Energy Union 

should go well with the development of an innovationbased 

energy sector, resulting in a better energy 

efficiency and more effective, environment-friendly 

energy production. 

The keynote speech was delivered by Walburga 

Hemetsberger, an expert in European energy policy, 

and gave an overview of its current state. Even though 

energy policy is to a high degree dependent on 

European directives and regulations, the energy policy 

of individual Member States varies considerably. Hence, 

the need for a European energy strategy to develop 

the European Energy Union further. The development 

„ 

the coordination of the 28 different national 

regulatory frameworks and the removal of the 

internal market barriers would be the clear path 

towards Europe’s sustainable energy security. 

The final session of the series, organised in Vienna on 6 

and 7 October, built on these conclusions. The meeting 

started with a welcome address delivered by the Director 

of NEOS Lab, Josef Lentsch, and an introduction into the 

ELF project by its coordinator Daniel Engström Stenson 

of FORES. It proceeded with a panel discussion of experts 

from science and politics and was followed by a workshop 

that allowed for a discussion of the individual country 

report, introduced by a keynote speech on the problem 

of measuring energy security. 

Moderated by Dr Pohoryles, four leading experts 

introduced the public debate on Europe’s energy future. 

Walburga Hemetsberger, Head of the Brussels Office 

of Verbund, a major Austrian energy supplier, Dr Le Coq, 

Dr Stefan Gara, Managing Director of ETA Consulting 

and Vera Fahrnberger, Expert on Energy and Mobility 

for the NEOS Parliamentary Group, representing MP 

Josef Schellhorn who was unable to attend due to an 

extraordinary Parliament session the same day. 

Participant engaged in the discussion 

in Sofia 

goes from a centralised system to Energy Turnaround 

Generations systems that are more decentralised and 

target decarbonisation. The main issues are energy 

security, competiveness, affordability and sustainability. 

This implies a shift away from prescriptive governance 

towards a new system that includes new key indicators. 

Instruments of the Commission include Communications 

and Directives and a series of reviews. The focus lies on 

the built environment, transport and products. 

The response of Verbund as an energy supplier is for 

supply to be based on renewable energy; fostering crossborder 

balancing markets; integrating demand response; 

17 





Series 

creating larger market areas; accepting price peaks; and 

CO 2 market reform. 

The main question for Dr Le Coq is the safeguarding 

of secure, affordable and equitable supply of energy 

with a focus on low-carbon production. She started by 

introducing the Kaya identity used inter alia by the UN’s 

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It was 

developed as measurement in order to determine the 

level of human impact on climate based on greenhouse 

gases (GHG). The total inputs of the equation are 

population, GDP per capita, energy use per unit of GDP, 

carbon emissions per unit of energy consumed. It focuses 

Vera Fahrnberger’s presentation consisted of two parts: 

the position of the Austrian Liberals with respect to energy 

policies, and the expectations of politicians for scientific 

advice. Thanks to its geographical position, Austria 

produced nearly 90 % of its electricity consumption from 

green sources in 2014. However, due to the lack of economic 

viability of gas power plants, electricity imports have 

risen dramatically: Austria spends more than € 13 billion 

on importing fossil fuels from politically highly unstable 

regions. According to a recent study by the University of 

Linz, substituting 10 % of the fossil fuel imports with green 

energy produced in Europe would increase European GDP 

by 2.5 %. The economic effect would be even higher in the 

„ 

The goal of the Liberal energy policy is 

to achieve a low-carbon industry. In order to reach 

this goal the Liberal position is based 

upon three pillars: energy security and safety; 

economic feasibility and affordable pricing; 

sustainability. 

Panel debate in Sofia 

on GHG-emissions. She warned against oversimplification 

and drew attention to the necessary balance of economic 

growth and strong policies against climate change. 

Energy security, economic growth and climate change 

have to be balanced in a certain equilibrium. 

With respect to the import dependency ratio Dr Le Coq 

drew attention to the fact that the risks involved vary by 

exporting and importing countries. As an example, she 

used the different level of risks for the Nordic Member 

States that import energy from Norway and Bulgaria, 

which is heavily dependent on Russian imports. Another 

issue of concern is the overreliance on green sources, 

given the back-up supply is often coal and gas. 

mid-term if the generated growth were to be re-invested 

in Renewables Development Initiatives. 

This is the basis for Liberal politics and policies in Austria: 

Austria’s Liberal party, NEOS, proposes a radical change 

of Austrian energy policy. The goal of Liberal energy 

policy is to achieve a low-carbon industry. In order to 

reach this goal the Liberal position is based upon three 

pillars: energy security and safety; economic feasibility 

and affordable pricing; sustainability. On an operational 

level Austrian Liberals call for the increase of renewable 

energy production up to 50 % by 2020 and up to 75 % by 

2030 and a strong commitment to actively push for a lowcarbon 

policy at international level. 

18 





Series 

Dr Gara took up the issue from a different angle: whilst not 

denying that energy supply from external resources is an 

issue, he gave a new perspective: the application of modern 

green technologies allows for the decentralised production 

of energy by the consumers themselves, even in highly 

populated areas. He noted that 65 % of the population 

live in urban settings, but use 80 % of the total energy 

consumption, mostly for heat and transport. Retrofitting 

solar panels in existing buildings, as well as newly erected 

eco-buildings, would allow for the production of enough 

energy for consumption and even make a surplus possible. 

This calls for the installation of local grids. 

However, this necessitates a change of mindset by 

politicians and the public at large to reach the conclusion 

that any building can be a power plant. In practical terms, 

this means that energy security and environmentally 

friendly solutions are not a technological problem, but 

a regulatory problem and one that needs awarenessraising. 

How to combine 

energy security 

with reduced 

emissions 

Date and location 

29 April 2015 · Stockholm · Sweden 

9 September 2015 · Sofia · Bulgaria 

6–7 October 2015 · Vienna · Austria 

Supported by 

FORES · NEOS Lab · Friedrich Naumann Foundation 

Edited by 

Daniel Engström Stenson 

19 



Conference 


A Liberal Discussion About Socio-Economic Fairness 

On 18 April, ELF, the International Democratic Initiative 

Foundation and D66 International invited a high-level 

panel to discuss the issue of Liberal responses to inequality. 

The event was organised to shed light on pressing matters 

of inequality in contemporary political debate. 

Piketty’s formula “R>G” has started a fierce discourse on 

inequality throughout the world. Is there a growing gap 

between the “haves” and “have nots”? And if so, to what 

extent is this problematic? But above all: what is the socialliberal 

view on inequality? After all, it is liberalism that is 

at least partially held responsible for supporting a system 

that fosters growing inequality. Is this a valid attribution? 

And does widening inequality threaten the meritocratic 

ideal? These are but of a few of the questions for this panel, 

together with the audience. 

The audience was made up of interested D66-members. 

The discussion was held on the fringes of the bi-annual 

D66 congress, with interest high and the panel session 

proving extremely popular. With more than 120 people 

attending, the conference-room was full. 

The panel featured Wouter Koolmees MP, the D66 

financial spokesman in the Dutch parliament. It also 

included Nils Torvalds MEP, economics spokesman for 

Svenska Folkpartiet in the European Parliament. The panel 

was completed by Andreas Bergh, from the Research 

Institute of Industrial Economics in Sweden. 

„ 

Is there a growing gap between 

the “haves” and “have nots“? 

Wouter Koolmees MP gave an interpretation of inequality 

in the Dutch political context. While the Netherlands 

is a fairly egalitarian society, and much of the Piketty 

scenario is offset by the enormous accumulated pensionwealth, 

growing inequality is not necessarily a soughtafter 

outcome for Liberals. Nils Torvalds MEP provided 

an international comparative overview of inequality, 

showing that egalitarian states often perform better than 

their unequal counterparts. Not only are they less violent, 

Wouter Koolmees MP speaking in Rotterdam 

20 



Conference 


A Liberal Discussion About Socio-Economic Fairness 

with people indicating they have a better quality of life, 

but they also boast more attractive investment climates 

and foster higher levels individual freedom, an important 

observation from a Liberal point of view. Andreas Bergh 

concluded the panel presentation with an account of the 

development of inequality under Liberal regimes, whereas 

Liberals in theory propose equality of opportunity. This 

often leads to an ever-widening gap of haves and havenots. 

At a certain tipping point this poses a threat to 

societal stability and therefore individual freedom. 

The plenary contributions, guided by moderator and 

D66 member Mark Sanders, touched on all three 

interventions. The afternoon’s main conclusion was that, 

although Liberals take equality of opportunity as an 

appropriate starting point, they should take into account 

the possible effects of this inequality on the eventual 

outcome – and mitigate for the widening gap. 


18 April 2015 · Rotterdam · The Netherlands 

Supported by 

Stichting IDI · FORES 

Report by 

Michiel Hendrix 

21 





The Future of the 

European Union 

2 

The future of the European Union concerns all of Europe. The development of 

EU institutions and the role of the EU in the world all help shape its future and this 

is why ELF has chosen to focus on the issue. The following pages will give you a 

snapshot of our work on the future of the EU. 

22



Ralf Dahrendorf Taskforce Policy Recommendations 

The Dahrendorf Taskforce is a biannual project running a 

series of workshops throughout 2014 and 2015. It provides 

a platform for ELF member organisations to discuss liberal 

proposals for the reform of the EU institutions and the 

future of the European integration process. There are four 

working groups: 

• Reform of the EU Institutions – Re-Democratisation 

of the EU; 

• Foreign, Security and Defence – Strong Cooperation 

for a Stronger Europe in the World; 

• Protecting Civil Liberties – a Liberal Footprint for Europe; 

• Financial and Economic Crisis – Liberal Solutions 

for a Europe That Works. 

ELF and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom 

organised the third gathering of the Ralf Dahrendorf 

Taskforce on the Future of Europe. The workshop on 17-19 

May brought together 22 participants from across Europe, 

many of whom had also participated in the previous 

events held in Germany and Portugal in 2014. 

At the 2015 meeting, Andrew Duff, former Member 

of the European Parliament and advisor to the Liberal 

Democrats, gave his thoughts at the beginning of the 

event. He called upon Liberals to talk frankly about 

the future of the European Union and not to shy away 

from tough questions on its future institutional set-up. 

Although he was optimistic about the possibilities to 

„ 

Liberals should talk frankly about 

the future of the European Union and not 

shy away from tough questions on its 

future institutional set-up. 

“flourish in times of crisis”, he also admitted that “as all 

experiments, the EU can fail”. His recommendations on 

the reform of the EU triggered fruitful discussions in each 

working group. 

The discussions held at the first and second workshops 

contributed to developing the proposals made in ensuing 

Participants in the last Ralf Dahrendorf Taskforce in Cambridge, United Kingdom 

23 


The Future of the European Union




discussion papers. The participants finalised their Liberal 

recommendations for each policy area, which were 

gathered in a publication. ELF members were thereby 

given the possibility to participate in the ongoing debate 

on institutional reform and the future of the European 

Union. 

Re-imagining 

Europe: 

The Liberal Way 


Published by With the support of Co-funded by 


17 – 19 May 2015 · Cambridge · United Kingdom 

Supported by 

Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom · Open Society and Its Friends 

Fundacja Industrial · Stichting IDI · LYMEC · Mr. Hans van Mierlo Stichting 

Bertil Ohlininstitutet · Republikon · VVD Internationaal 


Julie Cantalou 

24 



Seminar series 

European Defence 

Series 

As international headlines have shown, 2015 was a year 

of exceptional security challenges for the European 

Union. Instability in eastern Ukraine, the continuing 

threat of ISIS and gruesome attacks in the centre of Paris 

brought defence and security policy back to the top of 

the European agenda. Recognising the importance of 

security on the European continent, ELF hosted a series of 

events on European defence issues. By dedicating a series 

to this topic, we wanted to explore the future of Europe’s 

security and defence capabilities. This also contributed 

to one of ELF’s major focus areas, “The Future of the 

European Union”. 

As part of this series, seminars were hosted in three major 

cities across the EU: Prague, Tallinn and Brussels. The aim 

was to make sure a wide variety of liberal-minded voices 

were heard on Europe’s main security challenges and 

opportunities. The first seminar took place in Prague 

on “Sharing & Pooling in Air Defence” and was followed 

by two more seminars in Tallinn on 3 September and in 

Brussels on 5-6 November, focusing on cyber-security 

and land-force reforms. 

The Prague seminar organised by ELF and the Friedrich 

Naumann Foundation for Freedom aimed at identifying 

obstacles and challenges in sharing and pooling initiatives 

on the examples of air defence pacts. The seminar, 

entitled “Pooling & Sharing: The Benelux Air Defence Pact 

– A Blueprint for Visegrad?”, brought together security 

and defence experts from Benelux and the Visegrad 

region to share their knowledge on the creation of a 

common airspace. 

„ 

Recognising the importance of security 

on the European continent, ELF hosted a series 

of events on European defence issues. 

How did Benelux countries manage to overcome 

bureaucratic inertia and make a plan on joint air defence 

a reality? A presentation by Tim Vandenput, Belgian 

MP, and Laurens Bynens from Kenniscentrum OpenVld, 

explained that in Benelux it actually took more than 20 

years to transform the informal cooperation into a formal 

Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas speaking with the participants 

25 





Series 

pact. The initial impetus came in mid-1990s during 

the war in Yugoslavia, when in 1996 a joint deployable 

taskforce was created. Such an experience was helpful 

later for launching joint air defence plans. 

A member of Czech Air Force Headquarters, who cannot 

be named for security reasons, revealed a very different 

situation in Visegrad countries in his seminar contribution. 

According to him, the current process of sharing and 

„ 

the current process of sharing and 

pooling resembles a political 

gesture and in reality is not high on 

the government agenda. 

pooling resembles a political gesture and in reality is not 

high on the government agenda. This was confirmed by 

Mate Szalai, researcher from Institute of Foreign Affairs 

and Trade in Hungary, who struggled to find an official 

response by the Hungarian authorities about the Visegrad 

joint Air Defence Initiative. 

Lack of trust among V4 partners owing to their diverging 

political trajectories is not the only problem. Common 

threat perception is required, yet in the light of the 

Ukraine conflict, V4 is showing surprising differences in 

the evaluation of the current situation. Hungary is insisting 

on its “Eastern Opening” policy, which is based on good 

relations with Russia. A similar attitude, while less explicit, 

ELF Executive Director Susanne Hartig welcomes 

the audience to the roundtable discussion 

is defining Slovakian foreign policy. No wonder Poland, 

which is trying to drive forward various joint defence 

initiatives, can feel frustrated about progress within the V4. 

Leaving common threat perception and mutual trust 

aside, Dieuwertje Kuijpers, PhD researcher candidate at 

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, defined several other crucial 

conditions for making any sharing and pooling projects a 

success: (a) there must be some commonalities (such as 

an identical type of jet fighters in Benelux); (b) there must 

be an equal share of economic and political costs for all 

states (the “tit-for-tat” principle); and (c) the initiative to 

cooperate must come from those really involved in the 

given policy area (a bottom-up approach). 

She also pointed out potential bottlenecks affecting such 

initiatives: defence markets are very specific and conditions 

of procurement may vary across nations. Not only does 

the equilibrium of supply and demand set the price, but 

also national interests and priorities in defence strategies. 

Moreover, cooperation on defence issues, especially at the 

level of operation and strategy, are politically costly. 

The most intricate political dimension of sharing and 

pooling is the question of whether individual states are 

willing to give up some of their abilities and previously 

highly guarded know-how and share it with other states. 

Do the Dutch trust Belgian jet fighters to make their skies 

safe? Do Czechs have enough trust in Polish military 

schools so that Czech defence elites may be trained there? 

Can Hungarian politicians be trusted not to pass some of 

the knowledge outside NATO and the EU? 

ELF’s Prague seminar pointed out that, no matter the 

extent of the cost savings sharing and pooling could 

bring, without mutual trust, the concept of defence 

cooperation will never work. Defence cooperation results 

in greater inter-dependencies. Whether this makes us 

more vulnerable, or stronger, remains to be seen. 

Following the Prague event, a second seminar in the 

European Defence Series was organised on 1 September 

in Tallinn, Estonia. With the support of the Academy for 

26 





Series 

Liberalism and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for 

Freedom, ELF organised the seminar entitled “Pooling 

& Sharing: Facing the Hybrid War and Terrorism by 

Developing Cyber Security Capabilities”. 

The consequences of cyberterrorism, threats from ISIL 

and the actions of Russia in eastern Europe cannot be 

overlooked, as they affect the entire European Union and its 

member states. Hence, cooperation between the member 

states of the EU and NATO is necessary. The purpose of 

the seminar in Tallinn was to share knowledge between 

Liberal security and defense experts from European Union 

member states, with the main focus on how to tackle cyber 

terrorism and hybrid warfare. It is part of a series of events 

which bring Liberal stakeholders together to exchange 

thoughts on current challenges in the field of security and 

defence. The seminar was rounded off by a meeting with 

Taavi Rõivas, Prime Minister of Estonia. 

The third seminar in the series “More Vulnerable or More 

Resilient: European Defence and Security in the Age of 

New Risks” was organised in Brussels on 6 November by 

ELF and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. This proved 

to be a timely topic, as stated by Hans van Baalen MEP, 

due to the Russian intervention in eastern Europe, and 

once again made its way onto the European agenda to 

become a real issue. During the seminar, cybersecurity 

and public-private partnerships (PPPs) were discussed in 

particular, with inputs from the European Commission, the 

industry and the think tank world. 

It was concluded that when it comes cybersecurity, 

cooperation between the European countries is essential, 

albeit challenging. PPPs could lead the way ahead in this. 

While perhaps not an easy tool without complications, 

PPPs, when done right, can nevertheless be a highly 

effective one. 


30 June 2015 · Prague · Czech Republic 

1 September 2015 · Tallinn · Estonia 

5 – 6 November 2015 · Brussels · Belgium 

Supported by 

Friedrich Naumann Foundation · VVD International · Academy of Liberalism 

Republikon · Fundacja Industrial 

27 





Promoting 

the Rule of Law 

in Europe 

3 

Europe can be proud of its tradition of honouring the rule of law. Nevertheless, 

it is not something to be taken for granted, and ELF therefore dedicates itself 

in part to promoting the principles of rule of law in Europe. This focus has a 

long-standing tradition within our organisation, springing from our work on the rule 

of law as far back as 2012. This section gives an overview of our work in this 

area during 2015. 

28

Workshop & Publication 

Member State Violations 

Against Democratic Principles 

What Role Should the EU Have? 

The European Union is not simply an association of people 

and nations – it is also a community of shared values. 

When an applicant country wishes to join the European 

Union, it must demonstrate adherence to these shared 

values and principles: free and fair elections, a functioning 

multiparty democracy, rule of law and a respect of 

fundamental rights and freedoms. However, once a 

country is inside the Union, it is simply assumed that this 

adherence will continue. What happens when that is 

not the case, and a government seriously challenges the 

country’s democratic institutions – and the assumptions 

behind this particular aspect of the European project? The 

guests were gathered to discuss member state violations 

of democratic principles from a political and constitutional 

viewpoint, emphasising the Liberal standpoint concerning 

the challenges and opportunities for the EU around this 

topic. 

The main issue of this conference was the relationship 

between Hungary and the European Union, focusing on 

the violation of the European Union’s fundamental values 

by a member state. The conference consisted of three main 

panels. The first, the keynote speeches of László Kovács, 

former European Commissioner for Taxation and Customs 

Union, András Bozóki, professor of Political Science, CEU 

„ 

When an applicant country wishes to 

join the European Union, it must 

demonstrate adherence to shared values 

and principles. 

and Gerald Frost, founder and director of the Danube 

Institute. The second, a roundtable discussion about the 

member state violations against democratic principles 

and the role of EU with Lajos Bokros, chairman of Modern 

Hungary Movement (MoMa) Zsuzsanna Szelényi MP 

from EGYÜTT and István Szent-Iványi, former MEP; it 

was moderated by Gábor Horn, chairman of the board, 

Engaging in discussion on democratic principles in Europe 

29 


Promoting the Rule of Law in Europe

Workshop & Publication 

Member State Violations Against Democratic Principles 

What Role Should the EU Have? 

Republikon Foundation. The final, another roundtable 

discussion on the challenges and possibilities of the EU 

in promoting the rule of law with the participation of 

Dr Dominika Kasprowicz, political scientist from the 

Pedagogical University of Krakow; Balázs Orbán, director 

of research at Századvég Foundation; Csaba Tóth, director 

of stategy at Republikon Institute; and Nick Tyrone, 

Associate Director at CentreForum; moderated by Eszter 

Zalán, journalist at AFP. 

Gábor Horn opened the event with the question: “Should 

the democratic citizens of Hungary expect a helping hand 

from the EU, or should we make the first step against the 

threatening acts of the government?” He closed his speech 

referring to the main idea of the EU: “We should rather 

create a community of values instead of a community of 

interests.” 

Sophie in ‘t Veld, member of the ALDE Group in the 

European Parliament, shared the same opinion in her 

video message. She claimed that the European Union is 

passive in the case of member state violations by “turning 

a blind eye” to the infractions. She also explained that 

the EU has high standards of democratic governance 

and human rights, but the Union is not as strict with 

regard to the fundamental values when those countries 

that violate them are members already. As a solution, 

she referred to the Democratic Governance Pact which 

which aims to uphold the Rule of Law and Fundamental 

Rights in the EU. 

MeMber state violation against 

deMocratic principles 

- What can the eU do? 

budapest, 2015 


11 June 2015 · Budapest · Hungary 

Supported by 

Republikon · CentreForum · Friedrich Naumann Foundation 


Zsófia Uray 

30 




The Lesser Evil 

Security Versus Liberty 

Politics and Morals in Times of Terrorism 

The Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and 

the Arts in Brussels proved a majestic background for 

an ELF High-Level Lunch with Canadian intellectual 

and former politician Michael Ignatieff on 15 May. Het 

Liberaal Kenniscentrum and the Friedrich Naumann 

Foundation supported ELF in organising the event. 

Michael Ignatieff was invited to Brussels to talk about his 

acclaimed work, The Lesser Evil. Political Ethics in an Age of 

Terror (2004, Princeton University Press). The work holds 

that in a terrorist emergency, a democracy is committed 

to both the security of the majority and the rights of the 

individual. With the recent terrorist attacks in Europe and 

the IS threat in the Middle East in mind, the book – written 

amid George W. Bush’s “War on Terror” – still could, and 

should, serve as a moral compass to Liberal politicians 

dealing with terrorism. 

Balancing the security of a society as a whole with all 

fundamental individual liberties – a key feature of the 

European Enlightenment tradition – is at the heart of 

a continent-wide debate in the face of a new wave of 

terrorist attacks and threats in many member states of 

the European Union. 

„ 

Balancing the security of a society as a whole 

with all fundamental individual liberties is at the 

heart of a continent-wide debate in the face of 

a new wave of terrorist attacks. 

Following a warm welcome by the Flemish liberal Open 

Vld party, Chairwoman Gwendolyn Rutten and ELF 

Executive Director Susanne Hartig, the keynote speaker, 

stressed that the multicultural liberal projects of the West 

remain the best antidote against the siren song of what 

Michael Ignatieff coins “the virtual caliphate”. Promoting 

our own values always is the better option in regards to 

undermining them ourselves in the name of security. 

Former leader of the Canadian Liberal Party Michael Ignatieff speaks on the balance 

between security and freedom 

31 




The Lesser Evil. Security Versus Liberty. 

Politics and Morals in Times of Terrorism 

Vice President of the ALDE bureau and MEP Sophie in 

’t Veld took the floor for a response from the European 

Liberal point of view. While she agreed with the core of 

Michael Ignatieff’s speech, Sophie in ’t Veld was more 

critical in her analysis of the Liberal position on terrorism 

since 9/11. Liberty has been traded for security – not 

even the kind of level of security we truly aimed for, she 

concluded. 


15 May 2015 · Brussels · Belgium 

Supported by 

Liberaal Kennis Centrum · Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom 


Philippe Heyvaert 

32 



Workshops & Publication 

Accountability 

in Politics 

Accountability in politics epitomises the very essence 

of democracy: democratically elected politicians bear 

the responsibility to safeguard and implement the 

fundamental principles of democracy, such as rule of 

law. Furthermore, they are tasked to pursue policies, not 

for their own benefit, but the benefit of citizens. Political 

culture in the Western Balkans and Greece and the 

importance of accountability were themes explored in 

three conferences and a publication. 

The opening conference of this series was organised in 

Belgrade, Serbia, on 27 May and focussed on the issue 

of political legitimacy and the power of information. 

After opening remarks by ELF Vice President, Dr Jürgen 

Martens, the session kicked off with a plenary programme 

in the morning and specialised working group meetings 

in the afternoon. Broadly speaking, the event analysed 

the problem that those who hold the key to information 

channels are likely to influence public opinion in 

their favour. A free media, on the other hand, triggers 

discussions, provides knowledge about complex societal 

changes and offers the space for freedom which any just 

democratic society needs. The first panel addressed the 

following questions: 

• How do the Serbian government and opposition 

communicate? 

• Is there enough space for discussions on future 

challenging topics? 

• Is Serbia’s civil society ready to participate in politics? 

„ 

Accountability in politics epitomises 

the very essence of democracy. 

The subsequent working group meetings dealt with the 

following issues: 

• How to hold absolute-majority governments 

accountable 

• How to represent citizens’ interests outside parliament 

• How to push for a new political culture 

Participants discuss accountability in politics at the Athens workshop 

33 





in Politics 

The second event took place in Sofia, Bulgaria on 29 May 

and addressed minority governments. The Project Director 

of the FNF Southeast Europe, Daniel Kaddik, opened 

the event and gave a brief overview of the topic, before 

giving the floor to the keynote speakers. First, Dusan 

Gamser, international secretary of the Liberal Democratic 

Party, from Serbia, expressed his concerns on the “lack 

of a culture of accountability” throughout the Balkans. 

There, he said, “all the present political parties are linked, 

„ 

all the present political parties are linked, 

in one way or another, to the former communist 

heritage. They had neither the time, nor the will, 

to reform 

in one way or another, to the former communist heritage. 

They had neither the time, nor the will, to reform.” In turn, 

Vanya Kashukeeva-Nusheva, the Programme Director 

of Transparency International Bulgaria, pointed out that 

politicians do not actually feel the need to be accountable 

before the public, simply because the system allows them 

circumvent the law. “But the problem lies in society as 

well, because it is not active and not engaged,” remarked 

associate professor at the University of Sofia Gergana 

Radoykova. She added that people in the streets demand 

a direct democracy and stronger citizen control without 

knowing either the true meaning of those terms or what is 

expected on their part. 

The closing conference of this series was organised 

in Athens, Greece, on 10 June. The panel on the topic 

of “Accountability in Politics – Democratic Legitimacy 

vs. International Integration” addressed the following 

questions: 

• How should international partners, but also the 

domestic opposition, deal contentious governments 

with high public approval ratings? 

• Where does democratic legitimacy end and corporate 

responsibility begin for the whole? 

• Is Greece’s civil society ready to show unaccountable 

politicians from the left or the right their limits? 

In his introductory presentation, Dennis Gratz MP, 

Member of Parliament in Bosnia and Herzegovina and 

President of Naša Stranka, primarily focused on the specific 

circumstances of the lack of political accountability, 

focussing on the case of in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He 

said that this is a by-product of constitutional instability 

and a decade-long culture of unaccountability due 

to the incomplete democratisation of a (post-war) 

society. While everywhere in Europe – and especially in 

Greece – we can witness a strong conflict between the 

responsibility of local politicians toward their voters and 

the responsibility of tackling reforms that are necessary 

for further integration, Bosnian society is experiencing a 

total breakdown in the relation between the voter and 

the elected official as the representation of the voter’s will. 

ELF Vice-President Jürgen Martens opens the discussion 

in Belgrade 

Mapping ideas during the event 

in Sofia 

34 





in Politics 

This is caused by the systematic inability of the voter to 

recognize this and possibly “punish” the official for it in the 

next elections. 

Dimitrios K. Katsoudas, Director of KEFIM, pointed out 

that the issue of accountability in Greek politics is serious 

and long-standing; it constitutes one of the most serious 

problems in any move towards modernity and reform 

in Greece. He also drew attention to the fact that the 

peculiarities of accountability in Greece, especially its 

malfunction, can be traced to a period in the past, far 

beyond the creation of the modern Greek State. 

A common conclusion that became clear at all the events 

is that the European Union must address this principle of 

accountability and ensure that the issue is not forgotten 

amid various problems of day-to-day politics. That is 

why ELF and other liberal institutions are encouraging 

people to demand accountability in politics. By organising 

this series and collecting the input in a publication, ELF 

hopes to have contributed to increased awareness of the 

problems of accountability and contributed solutions to 

addressing these challenges. 


27 May 2015 · Belgrade · Serbia 

29 May 2015 · Sofia · Bulgaria 

10 June 2015 · Athens · Greece 

Supported by 

Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom 

Liberal Institute for Political Analyses 

35 





Capacitybuilding 

4 

Politics is not only about policy, it is also about people. Teaching, training 

and inspiring citizens to take part in political life is as important as the policy work 

we do and for that reason, ELF’s fourth focus area is dedicated to capacity-building. 

Each year, ELF organises events and issues publications with precisely this 

practical angle front and centre. 

36

Workshop series 

Innovative Campaign and 

Communication Tools 

What does it take to win elections? 

What does it take to win elections? What can Liberals learn 

from each other? What is the foundation of a successful 

election campaign? These questions guided a group of 15 

dedicated professional campaigners as they honed their 

skills at two interactive workshops organised by ELF, with 

the support of FNF, Stichting IDI and NEOS Lab. Participants 

were representatives of the Liberal parties FDP (Germany), 

D66 (The Netherlands) and NEOS (Austria) and they each 

undertook both workshops, building a strong network 

and learning from each other’s successes and failures. 

Rise like the phoenix 

Historically, parties rise and fall. Today one of the most 

successful parties in the Netherlands, D66, has gone from 

strength to strength both at European, national and local 

elections. However, in 2006 the party was one vote away 

from disbanding entirely. Since then it re-invented itself by 

sharpening its profile and limiting its focus to one main 

theme; education. D66 is now one of the recognised 

political voices on education in the Netherlands and a 

large part of its success is due to this credibility. The party 

used the education issue to reach its clearly-defined voter 

group, at the expense of running more general election 

campaigns. Campaigners from D66 also described a 

professionalisation of their campaign activities since 2006, 

with local and regional campaign managers autonomously 

running the campaigns, allowing the candidates to focus 

their undivided attention on being the outward face of 

the party. The story of D66 is an encouraging one for those 

Liberal parties that currently find themselves in dire straits. 

News from Austria 

NEOS – Das neue Österreich, swept onto the Austrian 

political scene in 2013. The party, originating as a civic 

movement, prided itself on staying close to its base and 

wanting to do politics differently. Since then NEOS has 

won seats in the Austrian and European Parliaments, and 

with its latest win in Vienna, is also represented in that city’s 

legislature. NEOS has pioneered a fresh image, including 

creative ways of organising election campaigning. In 

Notable campaign experts contributed to the event series 

37 


Capacity-building




Vienna, it has taken up the fight against corruption, a topic 

it has won considerable ownership of. NEOS is currently 

working to consolidate its structures and ensure that it is 

in fighting form for the next elections. 

It’s also about funds 

In order to run professional campaigns, parties normally 

also have to rely on a measure of fundraising. Fundraising 

can entail both crowdfunding, as well as larger donations. 

For Liberal parties it is important that any donations 

received are accepted in a way that is transparent to the 

voter. NEOS has had good experiences with crowdfunding 

as a way to bring its members into a fun fundraiser. 

Fundraising can also be used to garner media attention 

around a campaign message, something NEOS succeeded 

with when it made a virtual puzzle featuring the leader of 

Austria’s far-right Freedom Party, H.C. Strache. The public 

could buy pieces of the puzzle to “remove Strache”. 

Working with data 

Perhaps the main takeaway from the two workshops was 

learning how to work with data collection and analysis 

to understand the needs and profile of potential voters. 

UK Liberal Democrats data expert Jake Holland taught 

participants how gathering data at every corner and 

filtering it into analytical software allows you to create a 

layered communication campaign. Being able to tailor 

which message is filtered to which voter means you can 

inform voters of the issues relevant to them. Just as for 

students focusing on higher education makes sense, for 

pensioners looking at pension system reform might be 

the most relevant message. 

campaigns which make it clear what would-be members 

could gain from membership. She emphasised the 

importance of the party’s top politicians spending time 

with the rank and file of the party and how parties remain 

relevant when they offer a broad number of activities for 

different membership groups. In the case of the Reform 

Party, it offers everything from Film to Senior Clubs within 

the party. These initiatives help nurture the party base. By 

excelling at base participation, D66 and NEOS have found 

that giving each member a vote and, by bringing members 

in at early stages of policy formulation, demonstrates to 

them that being a part of the party gives them influence 

over the direction of their country. 

Most party campaign volunteers are also members, 

although not all. Coming to terms with this and finding 

ways to reward and promote those who do good 

volunteer work is crucial for any political party. NEOS is 

one party that is experimenting with bringing in nonmembers 

as volunteers for specific issues, and in times of 

overall membership decline for political parties, finding 

ways to involve non-members as volunteers is central. 

Vili Rosanda from the Istrian party IDS stressed that he 

used a reward system where volunteers who performed 

well were praised, while the party would make extra 

efforts to improve the work of those who performed 

below expectations. D66 gives volunteers a great deal of 

autonomy, through which volunteers are empowered and 

as a result perform better than if they were managed at a 

more detailed level. In short, it is important to take both 

Claas Voigt, Vice-Chairman and Campaign Manager, 

FDP Hamburg, presents his ideas in Gummersbach, Germany 

A party thrives on membership and volunteers 

Parties thrive on a large and inclusive membership. In many 

cases, it is an important way of funding party activities, 

but more importantly, members form the backbone of 

any party and it is through them that ideas flow. To attract 

members, Annika Arras from the Reform Party in Estonia, 

explained their party membership drives. They use fun 

38 


Capacity-building




members and volunteers seriously, give them a voice, 

praise those who make an effort and provide them lots 

of tangible reasons why getting involved has something 

in it for them too. 

The way forward 

for those running campaigns. This was a space where 

the participants could hold frank and direct talks on 

what works and what does not. ELF was instrumental in 

bringing representatives from Austria, Germany and the 

Netherlands together for this and we look forward to 

continuing the cooperation in 2016. 

Due to the intimate and interactive setting of this 

workshop series, we were able to offer an ideal forum 


6 – 8 May 2015 · Gummersbach · Germany 

27 – 29 November 2015 · Stuttgart · Germany 

Supported by 

Friedrich Naumann Foundation · NEOS Lab · Stichting IDI 


Håvard Sandvik 

39 


Capacity-building

list of all Projects 

List of All Projects 

A Europe For All? – What role can liberals play in addressing the ongoing refugee crisis? 

Accountability in Politics 

Active Citizenship and European Identity – Lessons for Europe 

Balancing Competences: Member States in Brussels and Brussels in the Member States 

Can Shaming Promote Human Rights? Publicity in Human Rights Foreign Policy 

Competitiveness – A Word without Meaning? 

Decarbonization of the transport sector – what are we waiting for? 

Equality in the 21st century – A liberal perspective on the future of labour markets 

EU, Russia and the Global Power shift 

Europe`s Energy Security 

European Defence Series 

Freedom Games 2015 – The future of European Union 

Freedom of the media and media pluralism in Eastern and Southeastern Europe 

Future of free cooperation: Coworking Europe 

(In)equality for all? A liberal discussion about socio-economic fairness 

Innovative campaign and communication tools 

Knowledge mobilisation 

Let’s Talk TTIP 

Liberal perspectives on European integration 

Liberal Reforms for Public Administration in Moldova 

Liberal Response to Educational Reforms 

Liberal Work in the Western Balkans: Building Capacity, Winning Elections 

Member state violation against democratic principles – What can the EU do? 

Political Culture – Challenge and Responsibility of the Young Generation Heading to a Liberal Society 


Refugee crisis in the EU – Liberal approaches 

Re-imagining Europe: The Liberal Way – Ralf Dahrendorf Taskforce Policy Recommendations 

Tackling Regional Disparities in Europe Through Growth 

The ECI in Action – Austria & the UK 

The future of employment and income mobility in Europe 

The future of employment in an automated age 

The Future of Liberal Policies in Ukraine 

The Liberal Academy 

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership – an opportunity or a threat? 

The Liberal viewpoint 

40 


list of all events



About us 


ELF is the foundation of the European Liberal Democrats (ALDE Party). 

We are made up of three pillars: 

1 2 3 

Member 

Organisations 

The Board of 

Directors 

The 

Secretariat 

41



Member 

organisations 

1 

Membership is open to think tanks, political foundations and institutes 

that promote Liberal ideals and values. 

42

AUSTRIA 

NEOS Lab – Das liberale Forum 

NEOS Lab – The Liberal Forum 

lab.neos.eu 

facebook.com/NeosDasNeueOesterreich 

twitter.com/neoslab_eu 

NEOS Lab is the political academy of the liberal grass-roots 

movement NEOS, and an open laboratory for new politics. 

NEOS Lab’s main objective is to contribute to enhancing 

political education in Austria by providing a platform for 

knowledge exchange and liberal political thinking on 

the key challenges to, and pathways for, democracies 

and welfare states in the 21st century. Particular emphasis 

is placed on the core topics of education, a more 

entrepreneurial Austria, sustainable welfare systems and 

democratic innovation. 

NEOS Lab views itself as a participatory interface between 

politics and society, insofar as it mediates on diverse 

policy issues between interested citizens, citizen experts 

with practical knowledge and academics with scientific 

knowledge, who all take part in the Lab’s “think and do” 

tank work. 

Additionally, NEOS Lab provides several services, 

such as political education and training, workshops 

and conferences, and a rich portfolio of inter- and 

transdisciplinary research at the interface between 

science, politics, economy and society. 

Contact Information 

Neubaugasse 64 – 66 · 1070 Vienna · Austria 

Phone +43 66 48 87 82 40 2 

Contact person 

Josef Lentsch 

josef.lentsch@neos.eu 

43 


member organisations

BELGIUM 

Centre Jean Gol 

cjg.be 

facebook.com/centrejeangol 

twitter.com/CentreJeanGol 

Founded in December 2004, the Centre Jean Gol is, at 

one and the same time, the guardian of the archives of 

the Reformist Movement and a number of its directors; 

an interdisciplinary library boasting over 4,000 volumes 

(seminal liberal writings, but also less well-known works); a 

design office; a think tank and research unit; a publisher of 

numerous collections; a proactive political force; a centre 

for training the Reformist Movement’s representatives; 

and an organiser of events, seminar, conferences and 

symposiums. 

Finally, the Centre Jean Gol has a website, designed 

to serve as a communication tool for the activities and 

publications of the centre. It offers online access to our 

library catalogue and to the inventory of our archives; the 

option to download certain parts of our publications free 

of charge; a “Liberal Portal” providing several hundred 

links to other websites (Liberal or otherwise) of interest; 

plus a section entitled La Pensée Libérale, which gives 

access to analyses of major liberal works, bibliographical 

references, etc. 

The Centre Jean Gol’s objective is to generate discussions 

on important social issues, thereby enabling the Reformist 

Movement to promote new ideas as part of a message 

that is accessible to all. In other words, the Centre Jean 

Gol allows the Reformist Movement to express itself as a 

vital creative force. 

Apart from reference works on liberalism, the Centre 

Jean Gol publishes Cahiers, the fruit of an interdisciplinary 

discussion process involving political authorities and 

experts from academic and socio-economic spheres or 

from civil society. It updates a database of electoral results 

since the early 1990s, from which it produces in-depth 

analyses. It also places itself at the disposal of the Reform 

Movement’s elected representatives to carry out surveys 

and work on specific election projects. 


Avenue de la Toison d’Or 84 – 86 · 1060 Brussels · Belgium 

Phone +32 25 00 50 40 


Corentin de Salle 

Corentin.desalle@mr.be 

44 



BELGIUM 

Liberaal Kennis Centrum 

Liberaal Kennis Centrum is the knowledge centre of the 

Flemish Liberal Party (Open VLD). It is a Liberal think tank 

that aims to define liberalism in the 21st century and to put 

its important topics high on the political agenda. 

Liberaal Kennis Centrum seeks to respond proactively 

to the varying challenges of the near future. In this way, 

we seek to lay the foundations for political liberalism in 

Flanders, Belgium and Europe. 


Melsensstraat 34 · 1000 Brussels · Belgium 

Phone +32 25 49 00 20 


Thomas Leys 

thomas.leys@openvldstudiedienst.be 

Liberaal Kennis Centrum aims to formulate a clear vision 

of today’s liberalism in an era marked by great challenges, 

such as globalisation, ageing of the population, migration 

and climate change. It does so by means of progressive 

research, study sessions, meetings and lectures. 

45 



Bulgaria 

Liberal Institute 

for Political Analyses (LIPA) 

lipa.bg 

LIPA is a Bulgarian non-governmental organisation, a 

think tank, with the non-profit purposes of promoting 

the expansion of liberal democracy and active civil 

society in Bulgaria, supporting the proper integration of 

Bulgaria within the EU, contributing to EU cohesion and 

strengthening European citizenship and identity on the 

merits of freedom, personal responsibility and the rule of 

law. 

Our mission is to: 

• Demonstrate how the change in our mentality results 

in a change of our lives 

• Support the development of conditions for a civilised 

dialogue in society 

• Contribute to tolerance and continuity in politics 

• Show the primacy of classical liberalism over leftism, 

populism and extremism 

• Encourage political parties in Bulgaria to embrace the 

values of classical liberalism 

We provide training on: 

• Leadership and public communication for young 

politicians and leaders of tomorrow 

• Rights and responsibilities of European citizens 

• Working with EU institutions and non-governmental 

organisations 

• Election campaigns, internal party development and 

communication 

• Local government and modern local self-governance 


Vrabtcha Str. 23 · 1000 Sofia · Bulgaria 

Phone +359 29 21 82 10 


Mia Morero 

mia.morero@gmail.com 

We debate and analyse current socio-political issues and 

propose alternatives for the development of a society of 

free and responsible individuals. 

We organise public forums and publish political, economic 

and social studies defending personal freedom and the 

rule of law. 

46 



CROATIA 

Međunarodni edukacijski centar 

nternational Educational Centre (IEC) 

akademija.hns.hr 

goo.gl/aDaJvJ 

twitter.com/PoliticalAcadem 

International Educational Centre (IEC) is a civil society 

organization which works to advance the political 

education of Croatian citizens and develop a tolerant 

and democratic political culture in Croatian society. The 

IEC adheres to universal values such as personal liberty, 

equality, economic freedom and individualism, which we 

consider to be the cornerstones of western civilization. 

Due to our liberal background, much of the IEC’s activity 

is more specifically aimed at strengthening liberalism in 

Croatian society and politics. 

The IEC was founded by members of the Croatian People’s 

Party – Liberal Democrats (HNS) to bring its Political 

Academy closer to the public and add a new international 

dimension to its educational work. Since then, the IEC 

has continued to open new avenues for international 

cooperation for the Academy by joining networks of 

likeminded organisations and foundations, while recently 

branching out to actively participate in projects by 

providing invaluable technical support. 

As their respective names would suggest; the primary 

concern of the IEC and the Political Academy is education, 

which is the most valuable capital a person can possess. 

We are of the firm belief that for liberal democracies to 

function, their citizens must be politically engaged as 

well as adequately educated. Both formal and informal 

education should equip citizens with the ability to 

critically think of political and social ideas, thus producing 

autonomous individuals capable of deciding for 

themselves what their definition of “a good life” is and how 

to successfully and responsibly achieve it within an open 

society. Such individuals are ever more likely to safeguard 

liberty, rather than succumb to the call of populism which, 

once again, seems to be taking root in Europe. 

The IEC and the Academy, through their activities, 

continue to strengthen liberalism in Croatia by providing 

training opportunities to members of HNS, while sharing 

knowledge and expertise with other Liberal parties in 

the region. In addition, by holding roundtables and 

conferences which discuss major issues on the political 

agenda, the IEC promotes liberal views in the public and 

provides Croatian citizens with a chance to further educate 

and inform themselves on important issues in society. In 

the near future, the IEC hopes to establish itself as a liberal 

think-tank in the region, bringing together theorists and 

practitioners to discuss and propose solutions to critically 

important public policy issues. 


Tomićeva 2 / II · 10 000 Zagreb · Croatia 

Phone +385 14 87 70 02 

Fax +385 14 87 70 09 


Goran Neralić 

goran.neralic@akademija.hns.hr 

I 

47 




Centrum Liberálních Studií 

Centre for Liberal Studies (CLS) 

libcentrum.cz 

The Centre for Liberal Studies (CLS) was established in 

1994 as a foundation and then re-established in 1999 

as a civil society organisation. It is a non-governmental, 

non-partisan, non-profit think tank. The main objectives 

of the CLS is to develop contacts between exponents of 

liberal thought, to contribute to clarifying the definition 

of liberalism and to define its place in contemporary 

society, and to apply this liberal approach to the political, 

economic and social transition of the Czech Republic. 

Due to a historical absence of any stable liberal political 

party in the Czech political landscape, the CLS, along with 

the Liberal Institute, long remained the only promoters 

of liberal ideas in Czech society. The CLS is open to 

cooperation with all interested institutions, organisations 

and individuals. 

In 2011, the CLS was actively involved in designing the 

website www.4liberty.eu, which serves as a platform for 

liberal-oriented think tanks in Central and Eastern Europe 

to communicate with media and decision-makers. 


Na Safrance 43 · 101 00 Prague · Czech Republic 

Phone +420 26 73 12 22 7 · +420 26 73 11 91 0 


Václav Bacovský 

vbacovsky@mediatrust.cz 

The CLS mainly works in the three following areas: 

• Policy advocacy in areas such as tax system reform, 

social insurance, rent deregulation, healthcare system 

reforms etc. 

• Education: Panel discussions, roundtables, 

conferences, awarding grants to undergraduates and 

graduates, sponsoring degree papers and translations 

• Cooperation with established experts (university 

teachers, scholars, government officers etc.) and with 

other think tanks such as Liberal Institute and FNF 

48 




Institut pro politiku a spoleCnost 

Institute for Politics and Society 

politikaspolecnost.cz 

facebook.com/politikaspolecnost 

twitter.com/institutps 

goo.gl/d8Kxux 

The mission of the Institute is to cultivate the Czech 

political and public sphere through professional and 

open discussion and to create a living platform which 

defines problems, analyses them and offers recipes for 

their solution in the form of cooperation with experts 

and politicians, international conferences, seminars, public 

discussions and political and social analysis available to the 

whole of Czech society. We believe that open discussion 

with experts and the recognition of the causes of problems 

is a necessary presumption for any successful solution to 

political and social problems. 


Martinská 2 · 110 00 Praha 1 · Prague · Czech Republic 

Phone +420 602 502 685 


Šárka Prát 

prat@politicsandsociety.cz 

The main themes are social change, foreign and 

security policy, defence, European matters, sustainable 

development and adaptation to the coming climate 

change, education, schooling, digitization, energy policy 

and its new forms, urbanism, life in a city and in a public 

environment and last but not least, matters of values in 

politics and human rights in our country and abroad. 

49 



ESTONIA 

Liberalismi Akadeemia 

Academy of Liberalism 

liberalism.ee 

facebook.com/LiberalismiAkadeemia 

The Academy of Liberalism is an independent Liberal 

think tank founded by members of the Estonian Reform 

Party in 2006. It has a 12-person board, including Ministers, 

Members of Parliament and entrepreneurs. The purpose 

of the Academy is to promote a liberal worldview to 

oppose socialist and anti-liberal ideas in society. The 

Academy of Liberalism is focused on civic education and 

research projects to promote Liberalism in Estonia and the 

EU neighbourhood countries. 

The Academy of Liberalism is active in many fields of thinktank 

work. Among the activities we pursue are: 

• Publishing: translations of acknowledged works into 

Estonian (Editors: Claudia Aebersold Szalay, Gerd 

Habermann & Gerhard Schwarz, Vabaduse raamat. 111 

teost liberaalsest vaimuloost) and publishing books in 

Estonian (Andrus Ansip, Pühendumus) and publications 

on topical issues 

• Events 

• A sophisticated training programme: The Youth 

Academy 

• The Day of Liberalism 

• Liberal of the Year Award 

• Think tank in Estonia for Russians 

• Round tables, conferences, training series on liberalism: 

Topics range from liberal economics, government 

spending and economic growth, state intervention in 

the economic crisis, etc. 

• Cooperation: various joint projects with other think tanks 

(ELF, Institute for Market Economics – IME, FNF, 4liberty. 

eu etc.) 


Tõnismägi 9 · 10119 Tallinn · Estonia 

Phone +372 51 83 79 3 


Rain Rosimannus 

rain@liberalism.ee 

• Academy of Liberal Future: Seminars for young Liberal 

political leaders aged 20 to 30 

50 



Finland 

Edistysmielisen tutkimuksen 

yhdistys r.y. e2 

Think Tank e2 

e2.fi 

goo.gl/X1QrUc 

The Society for Progressive Research (Editysmielisen 

tutkimuksen yhdistys ry) was established in 2006 in order 

to oversee the management of think tank e2. The director 

of the organisation, which is based on progressive values 

and liberal ideals is Karina Jutila, D.S.Sc. The focus of e2 is 

on research; on generating social scientific knowledge for 

the needs of organisations, businesses, the media, and 

political decision-making. 

Think Tank e2: 

• Focuses on research and generates social scientific 

knowledge for the needs of organisations, businesses, 

the media, and political decision-making 

Think Tank e2 focuses on two primary subjects: 

• The state and future of democracy 

• Environmental sustainability (including, for example, 

the bio economy in the Baltic Sea) 


Eerikinkatu 28 · 5th floor · 00180 Helsinki · Finland 

Phone +358 50 551 5361 


Jussi Westinen 

jussi.westinen@e2.fi 

• Initiates dialogue on current issues and introduces new 

themes for open debate 

• Aims to foresee social phenomena outside the field of 

daily politics 

• Contributes to the strengthening of think tank activities 

in Finland and improving contacts with think tanks in 

other countries 

51 



Finland 

Svenska Bildningsförbundet r.f. (SBF) 

bildningsforbundet.fi 

facebook.com/bildningsforbundet 

twitter.com/bildningsf 

The Swedish People’s Party, together with its women’s and 

youth league, formed Svenska Bildningsförbundet (SBF) in 

1973. The initial goal of SBF was to organise local workshops 

and provide training for candidates and campaign staff in 

fields relating to the mission of the party. Today, the role 

of SBF has grown and matured to an organisation that 

provides broad political and ideological support in a wider 

sense. SBF wants to drive the conversation in society by 

creating spaces where political and societal matters are 

being discussed from a liberal point of view. 

As a strong advocate of liberal solutions to today’s societal 

challenges, SBF hosts seminars, both short weekday 

seminars and full-day, more comprehensive seminars 

on a wide range of topics. SBF also publishes books and 

pamphlets on important political issues and commissions 

surveys to gain a better understanding of how society 

views different topics. 

SBF also runs a leadership development programme, 

Ledarskapsakademin (the Leadership Academy), aimed 

at developing the skills of young adults as they mature 

into leadership roles in society. The programme focuses 

on international relations, competitiveness, global trade, 

sustainable development and a wide range of other 

topics. Additionally, SBF has run the Agenda think tank 

since 2015. 


Simonsgatan 8A · 6th Floor · 00100 Helsinki · Finland 

Phone +358 96 93 04 0 


Magnus Öster 

magnus.oster@bildningsforbundet.fi 

SBF runs an internship programme, Liberal Praktik, which 

gives young people the opportunity to grow at high-level 

organizations in Cape Town, London, Brussels, Berlin and 

Washington D.C. 

52 



Finland 

Tankesmedjan Magma 

Think Tank Magma 

magma.fi 

goo.gl/vhtYxR 

twitter.com/TankesmedMagma 

Magma is a Finnish think tank founded in 2008. It supports 

liberal values and is independent of party politics. Since 

the beginning Magma has focused on issues such as 

integration, minorities, media, and the consequences of 

structural and economic change. Magma’s activities are 

based on the fact that Finland has two official languages, 

Finnish and Swedish, and on the understanding that 

multilingualism and ethnic diversity are important features 

of today’s Finland and Europe. 


Annegatan 16 B 29 · 00120 Helsinki · Finland 

Phone +358 50 33 86 96 3 


Nils Erik Forsgård 

nilserik.forsgard@magma.fi 

Magma performs an analytical function and serves as an 

arena for discussion. Our studies, as well as our impact and 

risk analyses, provide a basis for decision-making. Magma 

also organises conferences and seminars. The results 

are presented on our website, in our own publications, 

in articles and at public events. Magma also undertakes 

comparative studies within a European context and 

cooperates with think tanks both in Finland and abroad. 

53 



GERMANY 

Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung 

für die Freiheit 

Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) 

freiheit.org 

fnf-europe.org 

facebook.com/FriedrichNaumannStiftungFreiheit 

facebook.com/fnf.europe 

twitter.com/fnfreiheit 

twitter.com/fnfeurope 

The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom – 

established in 1958 by the first president of the Federal 

Republic of Germany, Theodor Heuss, and a group of 

committed Liberals – is an independent, non-profit, 

non-governmental organisation that is committed to 

promoting Liberal policy and politics in Germany, Europe 

and worldwide. Based in Potsdam, the foundation has 

nine regional offices in Germany and is active in over 60 

countries worldwide. Its aim is to promote core values 

such as the protection of human rights, civil society, 

market economy, free trade and the rule of law. 

Over the last 58 years, the activities of the Foundation 

have expanded beyond their original civic educational 

tasks in Germany. A scholarship programme, a think tank, 

a press and media department and its engagement in 

international liberalism have become important parts of 

the Foundation’s assignments. 

Together with our partners – which include liberal political 

parties as well as think tanks – we support the development 

of constitutional and democratic institutions as well as civil 

society. We do so not only with our dialogue programmes 

in Brussels, but with local FNF offices and joint events in 

various EU member states as well. 

European and Transatlantic Dialogue 

On both sides of the Atlantic, coordinated from our offices 

in Brussels, Athens, Prague and Washington DC, we actively 

encourage political debate and develop innovative liberal 

approaches and solutions. A lively dialogue is based on 

tolerance and mutual understanding. Our activities aim 

at promoting these basic values through intercultural 

exchange. 

Our projects act as liberal platforms for the Foundation’s 

worldwide partners to debate issues of the European as 

well as the transatlantic agenda. 


Karl-Marx-Straße 2 · 14482 Potsdam-Babelsberg · Germany 

Phone +49 331 7019 0 (Germany) · +32 22 82 09 30 (Brussels) 


Håvard Sandvik 

havard.sandvik@fnst.org 

The main objectives of our work are to: 

• Disseminate liberal ideas and concepts in all political 

areas 

• Strengthen civil society, particularly liberal 

organisations and parties 

• Bring liberal approaches and solutions from abroad into 

the German political discussion 

54 



GREECE 

EΚέντρο Φιλελεύθερων Μελετών 

‘Μάρκος Δραγούμης’ 

Liberty Forum of Greece – Markos Dragoumis (KEFIM) 

libertyforum.gr 

facebook.com/libertyforum.gr 

twitter.com/kefimgr 

youtube.com/user/kefimgr 

Our Mission 

The mission of the Liberty Forum of Greece (KEFiM) is to 

increase popular demand and understanding for policies 

that promote individual freedom. 

Our Values 

We believe in the principles of classical liberalism and the 

ideas of a free economy and an open society under the 

rule of law. 


Panepistimiou 64 · 7th Floor · 10677 Athens · Greece 

Phone +30 211 800 4880 


Nikos Rompapas 

info@libertyforum.gr 

KEFiM carries out its mission by: 

• Introducing innovative advocacy campaigns. 

• Organising events that advance the understanding of 

a free society. 

• Publishing books that promote its vision and maintain 

an open Liberal Library for public use. 

• Publishing its research findings and recommendations 

and making them available to all reform advocates. 

• Producing high-quality content for each of its 

audiences. 

• Offering public policy proposals to legislators, political 

parties, and the press. 

• Creating coalitions that support its policy 

recommendations with political, partisan, and civil 

society audiences. 

• Generating media friendly content and products. 

55 



Hungary 

Republikon Foundation 

for Science, Education and Research 

(Republikon Foundation) 

republikon.hu 

goo.gl/JiWwdl 

twitter.com/Republikon 

Republikon Foundation for Science, Education and 

Research (Republikon Foundation) is a liberal think tank 

organisation based in Budapest, focusing on analysing 

Hungarian and international politics, formulating policy 

recommendations and initiating projects that contribute 

to a more open, democratic and free society. 

The goal of the Foundation is to promote discussion and 

implementation of liberal ideas, approaches and policies. 

Republikon Foundation believes that Hungarian politics 

can take a turn for the better only if liberal ideas and 

opinions are formulated in policy and public discourse. 


Harangvirág u. 7 · 1026 Budapest · Hungary 

Phone +36 1 391 0394 


Réka Csaba 

csaba.reka@republikon.hu 

Republikon Foundation has played an important role as 

a think tank in Hungary: independent from any political 

party, but committed to liberal values, it has been 

endeavouring to shape policy thinking and public debate 

with its innovative approach to politics and policy. It is 

Republikon Foundation’s mission to articulate new ideas 

and to find ways of making the values of liberal democracy, 

human rights and tolerance more popular. 

56 



Hungary 

Szabadságért Alapítvány 

For Freedom, for Liberal Thinking Foundation 

The For Freedom Foundation was brought to life on 23 

January 2012 with the primary goal of promoting and 

facilitating the dissemination of liberal thinking in Hungary. 

Its main objective is to strengthen liberal values, so that 

fundamental human rights and liberties can become part 

of the everyday life of all members of society. In the course 

of its activity, the Foundation fights against segregation 

and for the strengthening of an open, tolerant and 

receptive society. 

The Foundation carries out the following: 

• Educational programmes, training and lectures 

• Exhibitions and cultural events 

• Publications 

• Scholarships for organisations and individuals 

• Awarding individual support or grants 

The Foundation gives special attention to minorities; 

primarily the challenges faced by the Roma community 

and its goal is to facilitate equal opportunities for 

disadvantaged groups. The Foundation is committed to 

the cause of environmental protection. It seeks to reinforce 

the right to the pursuit of individual happiness. 


Hercegprímás utca 18 · 1051 Budapest · Hungary 

Phone +36 30 35 00 47 5 


Emese John 

msejohn@gmail.com 

It cooperates with and supports every organisation whose 

objectives correspond to its own. In order to reach its 

goals, the Foundation makes full use of publicity and the 

media. 

57 



ITALY 

Associazione LibMov, 

Movimento Liberali (LibMov) 

libmov.it 

goo.gl/CruJHv 

LibMov is a new think tank, formed by Italian ALDE 

associate members, with the aim of promoting liberalism 

in Italy and of gathering together all Italian Liberals who 

believe it is high time for their renewed presence in the 

Italian public debate and in the Italian political system. 

LibMov was not born in contrast or in opposition to any 

existing Liberal organisations. 

In order to achieve our mission, we think the preliminary 

step should be the elaboration of a set of political principles 

and reform proposals capable of joining together the 

diverse traditions and cultural sensitivities existing within 

the Italian Liberal family, which has been scattered for 

years across many different political organisations, and is 

therefore much weaker today than it could be. 

Given that European integration has been – in the last 150 

years – the common ground for almost all Italian Liberals, 

we think that making direct reference to our European 

common family could be an effective approach to gain 

supporters. 

European integration (a role miserably neglected in the 

past two decades); turning the page on the two muddy 

decades marked by political populism, continuous 

breaches of the rule of law and indecent public ethical 

standards; a resolute modernisation and liberalisation of 

the Italian economy, also as a means to curb corruption, 

patronage and vested interests; and, separation of state 

and religion and related individual freedom. 


Via Bezzecca 10 · 43125 Parma · Italy 

Phone +39 48 82 00 54 8 


Alessandro Olmo 

associazionelibmov@gmail.com 

In addition to this, we have set four basic principles more 

directly related to the present Italian public debate: the 

resumption of the traditional role of Italy in promoting 

58 



ITALY 

Fondazione Critica Liberale 

criticaliberale.it 

facebook.com/criticaliberale1 

twitter.com/CriticaLiberale 

Fondazione Critica Liberale is a non-profit foundation 

established in 1994 with the aim of promoting liberalism 

in Italy and acting in the fields of democracy, civil liberties 

and human rights, social and economic policies. 

Fondazione Critica Liberale organises and sponsors 

conferences, workshops and seminars, as well as research 

studies and a wide range of publications. The foundation 

runs the three-monthly review Critica Liberale (published 

since 1969, before the foundation came into existence) 

and its online supplements criticaliberalepuntoit (weekly), 

Gli Stati Uniti d’Europa (The United States of Europe, 

advocating European federalism) and Novae9 (a cultural 

interdisciplinary review). 

Fondazione Critica Liberale is a member of the 

Coordination of Italian Cultural Reviews (CRIC). 

The foundation is one of the founding members of the 

Pannunzio Society for Freedom of Information. 


Via delle Carrozze 19 · 00187 Rome · Italy 

Phone +39 06 67 96 01 1 


Claudia Lopedote 

c.lopedote@quesire.it 

The foundation supports, and is a partner of, institutions 

and activities with parallel aims, such as Consulta Laica 

of Rome and Coordinamento Nazionale delle Consulte 

Laiche of Italy. In 2007 the foundation and CGIL trade union 

office, Ufficio Nuovi Diritti, launched the Observatory 

on Secularisation. The Observatory publishes an annual 

Report on secularisation in Italy and organises a series of 

meetings called Conversazioni laiche; it also edits a yearly 

report on religious information in the Italian media, funded 

by the Italian Waldensian (Protestant) Church. 

59 



Lithuania 

Atvira visuomenE ir jos draugai 

Open Society and Its Friends 

atviravisuomene.lt 

Founded in 2005, Open Society and Its Friends is a nonprofit 

organisation that aims to spread liberal ideas and 

values, stimulate the development of an open civil society, 

extend and deepen democratic traditions, promote 

citizenship and strive for more private-sector involvement 

in public administration. 

Apart from the implementation of various projects and 

initiatives, we mainly aim to provide an opportunity for 

other people and organisations to reach their mutual goals 

together. Therefore, our organisation is often a supporter 

of ideas and initiatives as well as a partner in projects. 

However, we always pursue our goals and, before we 

consider taking part in any initiative, we ask ourselves the 

following questions: 

The organisation is involved in disseminating liberal 

ideas on an ongoing basis and in their implementation. 

With our goals in mind, we initiate research on important 

social, political and public issues; create concepts for 

liberal reforms; organise conferences, discussions and 

public lectures; carry out opinion polls and finance the 

publication of academic literature. 


Danės g. 9 · 92117 Klaipėda · Lithuania 

Phone +370 84 62 51 00 0 


Audrone Balnioniene 

info@atviravisuomene.lt 

• Will it disseminate liberal ideas and values? 

• Will it promote citizenship? 

• Will it strengthen the culture and awareness of 

democracy? 

• Will it encourage public and political activity? 

• Will it build political intelligence? 

60 



Lithuania 

LaisvEs studijU centras (LSC) 

Centre for Liberty Studies 

laisvesstudijos.lt 

Laisvės studijų centras (LSC) is a Liberal think tank aiming 

to promote individual freedom and responsibility as 

the most important values in a democratic society. 

LSC is committed to the following goal of fostering the 

emergence of young leaders, populiarising liberal values, 

promoting civil liberties and providing a platform for every 

citizen to engage in the democratic process. 

One of the key objectives for LSC is to build a long-lasting 

training platform for public sector leaders, not only from 

Lithuania, but from across Europe. 

In all our activities we closely cooperate with the 

Liberal Movement of Lithuania, as well as other liberal 

organisations, both in our own country as well as abroad. 

LSC has as its primary interest the strengthening of civil 

society by means of organising educational activities. 

Examples of such activities include visits and open 

lectures for high-school students, leadership and political 

communication training for young citizens, and more 

generally, for the liberal community in Lithuania. 

Our most notable current project is our ongoing dialogue 

on the meaning of freedom, liberalism and the future of 

the European Union in the context of Lithuania. 


Jonažolių g. 10-2 · 04134 Vilnius · Lithuania 

Phone +370 67 56 04 24 


Vytautas Mitalas 

vytautas.mitalas@lrs.lt 

LSC aims to establish itself as a profound institution of 

public policy analysis. Having a wide network of reformers 

across Lithuania, we seek to contribute in various spheres 

of public policy, including education, health and public 

administration in particular. 

61 



The Netherlands 

Haya van Someren Stichting/ 

VVD Internationaal 

international.vvd.nl 

facebook.com/vvdinternationaal 

twitter.com/VVDint 

Haya van Someren Stichting is responsible for the 

international activities of the Dutch Liberal Party (VVD) 

and is based at the headquarters of the VVD in The Hague, 

The Netherlands. 

The Haya van Someren Stichting concentrates on 

supporting non-profit activities that strengthen liberalminded 

political parties and groupings in Central and 

Eastern Europe. This is facilitated by the Political Parties 

funding of the Matra Programme set up by the Dutch 

Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Matra Programme aims 

to support the transition to a multi-form, constitutional 

society in countries in Central and Eastern Europe 

and North Africa. Haya van Someren Stichting/VVD 

Internationaal has nearly twenty years’ experience in the 

field of capacity-building of political parties in Eastern and 

Southeast Europe. 

The parties and/or political groups we support should 

emphasise liberal principles and ideas. Preferably they are, 

or intend to be, a member of Liberal International, and/or 

the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) 

Party. Certain other conditions also apply. The political 

party or group should aim to strengthen the rule of law, 

guaranteeing the individual rights of man and promoting 

peaceful relations with neighbouring countries. 

Projects have been successfully implemented in Armenia, 

Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, 

Egypt, Georgia, Kosovo, Libya, former Yugoslav Republic of 

Macedonia, Moldova, Morocco, Romania, Serbia, Tunisia, 

Turkey and Ukraine. 

The VVD Party is a member of such networks of liberals 

as Liberal International and the Alliance of Liberals and 

Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Party. 

Descriptions of the countries, organisations, activities 

and background information on Haya van Someren/VVD 

Internationaal’s cooperation with its international partners 

can be found on our website. 


Mauritskade 21 · 2500 GV The Hague · The Netherlands 

Phone +31 70 36 13 06 1 


Wouter Schröer 

w.schroer@vvd.nl 

The Haya van Someren Stichting works on a demanddriven 

basis and organises and facilitates several training 

programmes: 

• Training on various party-related subjects 

• Regional seminars, providing keynote speakers 

• Visitors’ programmes in the Netherlands 

• Regional and national discussions fora 

62 




Prof.mr. B.M. TeldersStichting 

teldersstichting.nl 

twitter.com/TeldersTweet 

The Prof.mr. B.M. TeldersStichting is a Dutch liberal think 

tank affiliated to the VVD political party. The foundation 

is named after Benjamin Telders, who was a legal scholar 

and philosopher and chair of the Liberal State Party (a 

predecessor of the VVD party). During World War II he 

was arrested by German (Nazi) occupiers. He died in the 

Bergen-Belsen concentration camp shortly before the 

Netherlands were liberated. 

The Prof.mr. B.M. TeldersStichting was founded in 1954 as 

a completely independent liberal think tank by a board 

under the chairmanship of Johan Witteveen, a professor in 

economics who was to become Vice-Prime Minister of the 

Netherlands in the 1960s and Director of the International 

Monetary Fund in the 1970s. In 1972, the Prof.mr. B.M. 

TeldersStichting established a link with the VVD, although 

as an organisation and in its policy formulation, the think 

tank remained independent. The current Chair of the 

Board is Frans Engering, who previously was director of 

Economic Affairs and Dutch ambassador to South Africa. 

The current Director of the foundation is Patrick van Schie, 

a historian who wrote his dissertation on the history of 

Dutch liberalism from 1901 to 1940. 

The Prof.mr. B.M. TeldersStichting publishes policy papers 

and books on all kinds of political and societal topics, 

from the market economy to environmental issues, from 

fighting crime to defence policy. In addition, together with 

a commercial book publisher, the foundation publishes 

books for a wide audience on the history of liberalism and 

its leaders, the political philosophy of liberalism and the 

leading thinkers in liberal (political and economic) theory. 

Each year, several conferences and seminars on various 

topics are organised. Also, an annual Telders Lecture is held. 

Talented students from Dutch (and Belgian) universities are 

selected to take part in the Prof.mr. B.M. TeldersStichting 

Liberal Summer School. The quarterly journal of the 

foundation is Liberaal Reveil, which is edited by Charlotte 

Maas. The TeldersCommunity, an online platform for 

discussion as well as a digital library for all our publications 

was launched in 2014. Most of our publications and debates 

are in Dutch, although some are available in English. 

The Prof.mr. B.M. TeldersStichting does not adhere to 

one particular variant of liberalism, though liberalism’s 

classical thinkers always appear to be an important source 

of inspiration. For us, the freedom of the individual is 

the most fundamental point. We therefore consider it 

essential that a free and democratic society, in which there 

is no accumulation of power and public power is always 

democratically controlled and legitimised (via checks and 

balances), continues. It is not the US-type of liberalism, as it 

has developed in recent decades, that we embrace, but a 

liberalism that is vigorously opposed to socialism, religionbased 

politics and other kinds of communitarianism. 


Mauritskade 21 · 2514 HD The Hague · The Netherlands 

Phone +31 70 36 31 94 8 


Dr Patrick van Schie 

vanschie@teldersstichting.nl 

63 




Mr. Hans van Mierlo Stichting 

mrhansvanmierlostichting.nl 

twitter.com/VMStichting 

The Mr. Hans van Mierlo Stichting works as a broker of 

knowledge, expertise and ideas for the Dutch Liberal 

Democratic Party D66 (Democraten 66). 

With three staff members, the main focus of our work is 

to deepen and develop our liberal-democratic (also often 

referred to as social-liberal) thinking. 

Our Foundation was originally founded in the 1970s, when 

it served as a traditional research centre. At the turn of the 

20th century, our approach changed to that of a broker, but 

our aim has remained the same: to generate concepts and 

ideas that strengthen the intellectual profile of D66 and 

to be a place where political thinkers can look at societal 

development in a more considered manner. 

Furthermore, we act as secretary to D66’s permanent 

programme committee, which is charged with writing 

the party programmes for both national and European 

elections. It is in this arena that the link is forged between 

ideological awareness and everyday practice. 


Postbus 660 · 2501 CR The Hague · The Netherlands 

Phone +31 70 35 66 06 6 


Joost Sneller 

j.sneller@d66.nl 

Nowadays, the organisation employs dozens of volunteers, 

working on projects varying from very concrete policy 

advice to fundamental studies of the basic social-liberal 

principles of D66. We also publish a magazine called Idee. 

64 




Stichting Internationaal Democratisch 

Initiatief (Stichting IDI) 

d66.nl/internationaal 

facebook.com/D66Internationaal 

twitter.com/D66Int 

Stichting IDI is an important pillar in D66’s international 

work. In 1989, IVSOM, the Central and Eastern Europe 

Foundation of the D66 party was founded to support 

democratisation and economic transition in Central and 

Eastern Europe. In October 1997, IVSOM was renamed the 

Stichting Internationaal Democratisch Initiatief (Stichting 

IDI). The Foundation is independent but also forms an 

integral part of the political party D66. Its office is located 

at the D66 Party Bureau. 

IDI offers practical knowledge for political partners in the 

project countries. On the other, ideas and experiences 

from abroad deepen and strengthen the liberal concept 

D66 adheres to, while at the same time D66 learns from the 

tactics and strategy employed by likeminded parties. The 

Matra Political Party Programme of the Dutch Ministries 

of Foreign and Home Affairs financially support most IDI 

projects. 

Over the years IDI’s field of operation was expanded to 

include countries outside Central and Eastern Europe. 

Nowadays, the IDI Foundation is mainly active in Eastern 

Europe, the Western Balkans, Turkey and the MENA 

(Middle East and North Africa) region. Furthermore, the 

IDI Foundation maintains and develops relationships 

with likeminded political organisations in many countries 

around the world. IDI cooperates with liberal-democratic 

parties and organisations that respect human rights and 

the rights of minorities. 


PO Box 660 · 2501 CR The Hague · The Netherlands 

Phone +31 70 35 66 06 6 


Michiel Hendrix 

m.hendrix@d66.nl 

Democratic movements and progressive or social-liberal 

political parties are natural partners for the IDI Foundation. 

The relationships are mutually beneficial. On the one hand, 

65 



Pan-European 

European Liberal Youth (LYMEC) 

lymec.eu 

facebook.com/EuropeanLiberalYouthLYMEC 

twitter.com/lymec 

The European Liberal Youth, abbreviated as LYMEC, is a pan- 

European youth organisation seeking to promote Liberal 

values throughout the EU as the youth organisation of the 

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE Party) 

and its parliamentary group in the European Parliament 

(ALDE, Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe). 

Involving about 160,000 members from 50 organisations 

in about 30 countries, LYMEC is composed of member 

organisations and individual membership and it is active 

across the breadth and diversity of the European continent. 

Our central aim is the creation of a Liberal and federal 

Europe. 

LYMEC was established in 1976 as the Liberal and Radical 

Youth Movement of the European Community. As a 

youth organisation, LYMEC supports the development of 

political and educational understanding of young people 

throughout Europe. LYMEC strives to play a political role 

within Europe by cooperating with other Liberal and 

Radical organisations – such as ALDE – and to represent 

Liberal interests in European youth movements. 

Recent activities include seminars organised in various 

European countries, conferences organised in the 

European Parliament, workshops, capacity-building 

seminars and publications. 

We gather for Congresses twice a year (Spring and Fall) 

and for our Young Leaders Meeting in September various 

locations throughout Europe during the year to exchange 

ideas and meet our fellow Liberal colleagues. 


Rue d’Idalie 11 · 6th floor · PO Box 2 · 1050 Brussels · Belgium 

Phone +32 48 46 44 06 8 


Igor Caldeira 

office@lymec.eu 

In brief, our organisation aims to: 

• Create a Liberal and federal Europe 

• Educate its member organisations and individual 

members through seminars, publications, group travel, 

symposia, courses and meetings 

• Increase the common understanding of Liberal ideas 

among young people throughout Europe 

• Promote tolerance between cultures and individuals 

• Increase the level of political awareness and 

involvement of young people in politics, including the 

promotion of active citizenship 

66 



POLAND 

Fundacja Industrial 

findustrial.pl 

facebook.com/liberteworld 

twitter.com/MagazynLiberte 

The mission of Fundacja Industrial is to promote an 

open society, liberal economic ideas and culture and to 

organise a social movement around these ideas. Our 

partners are well-known institutions such as The Stefan 

Batory Foundation, FNF, National Centre of Culture and the 

Polish Confederation of Private Employers Lewiatan. At the 

same time, we partner the largest public events in Poland 

concerning business and politics, such as the Economic 

Forum in Krynica, Wroclaw Global Forum or the European 

Forum of New Ideas. 

The focus of all our activities is publishing the expert, 

ideological social political magazine Liberté! (www.liberte. 

pl). We also host the online web portal www.liberte.pl and 

a quarterly printed magazine. Our magazine is directed at 

public opinion leaders, NGO representatives, the academic 

world, politicians, media, entrepreneurs and young people 

involved in building civil society in the country. 

The Foundation is also organizer of annual event called: 

Freedom Games (www.freedomgames.eu). It is an interdisciplinary 

conference that serves as a common ground 

for intellectuals and artists. It is a platform for leaders and 

thinkers of various backgrounds to share their experiences 

and exchange ideas. 

The Foundation also implements other think tank projects, 

including the creation of a vision of liberal social policy, 

elite and modern education as well as the philosophical 

and political science debate series. 

Furthermore, we coordinate the 4liberty.eu platform 

together with FNF. This is a joint project of 11 think 

tanks from Central Europe and the Baltic States, with a 

number of them (including Poland’s Fundacja Industrial, 

FOR, Fundacja Projekt: Polska, Slovakia’s INESS, Hayek 

Foundation, Hungary’s Republikon Institute, the Czech 

Republic’s Liberalni Institut, Lithuania’s LFMI, Estonia’s 

Academy of Liberalism, Germany’s Liberales Institut and 

Bulgaria’s IME) regularly publishing analysis and comments, 

focusing mainly on free market economics. 


ul. Piotrkowska 102 · 90-004 Lodz · Poland 

Phone +48 50 10 93 74 8 


Błażej Lenkowski 

blenkowski@findustrial.pl 

We also carry out many activities in our city Lodz. We host 

the cultural club called: 6th District. 

67 



POLAND 

Fundacja Projekt: Polska 

Foundation Projekt: Polska 

projektpolska.pl 

facebook.com/projektpolska 

twitter.com/projekt_polska 

The mission of Fundacja Projekt: Polska is to bring together 

experts and young leaders to promote public policy 

solutions for Poland based on the free market, free society, 

European values and the rule of law. 

Fundacja Projekt: Polska is a joint initiative between two 

different groups. The first group consists of business and 

media people who were in their teenage years shortly 

after the collapse of Communism and the second group 

consists of young people from liberal youth and student 

associations. 

We think that public life in Poland needs more projects 

and constructive ways of thinking. Each project has 

precise aims, costs and profits. Each has a timetable and 

it is therefore possible to evaluate how successful it has 

been. A project can only be successful when it is created 

and implemented by competent people. 

We want to act as a platform to give young people the 

chance to professionalise and to prepare – in a politically 

impartial way – to take part in public life. We also want 

to give young professionals and business people who 

entered the labour market since 1989 the chance to get 

involved in politics and civil society, in turn passing on 

their skills and knowledge to the next generation. We 

support and advocate changes in Poland by establishing 

unique and independent think tanks. 

Fundacja Projekt: Polska has created the państwomiasto, 

a multidimensional hub in central Warsaw. It is a vibrant 

coworking space for NGOs and create professionals and 

a place where members of civil society can develop 

their projects and present their results. A gallery and café 

complete the facilities. 

Projekt: Polska is an operator of HejtStop. HejtStop started 

as a campaign dedicated to removing hateful signs from 

the public space in Poland. HejStop became an important 

multidimentional center that monitors and fights against 

hate speech in Poland. 


ul. Andersa 29 · 00159 Warsaw · Poland 

Phone +48 22 40 48 13 1 


Miłosz Hodun 

mhodun@gmail.com 

The main goal of our foundation is to initiate changes 

in Poland with the help of professionals, think tanks and 

projects promoted with the support of our partners. 

68 



POrtugal 

Movimento Liberal Social (MLS) 

liberal-social.org 

facebook.com/movimentoliberalsocial 

twitter.com/mliberalsocial 

MLS, which was officially founded in 2005, aims to 

promote social liberalism in Portugal. The movement is a 

platform for individuals who believe that the old left-right 

dogma makes little sense today and that it is possible to 

secure a different and more constructive type of politics 

in Portugal. 

In summary, MLS stands for: 

• The sovereignty of the individual: the inalienable right 

to live one’s life and to seek happiness 

• A fairer society, based on merit, where everyone can 

freely exercise their talents and develop their potential, 

free from any control or pressure, in an environment of 

solidarity and respect between individuals 

• The market economy, but always with state control 

as a corrective mechanism to counter inevitable 

disequilibria 


Rua Ramalho Ortigãgo 31 · Cave Direita 

1070-228 Lisbon · Portugal 

Phone +351 96 60 75 97 8 


Miguel Duarte · miguel.duarte@liberal-social.org 

Igor Caldeira · igor.caldeira@liberal-social.org 

• Equality before the law, always with respect for the 

right to differ 

• A state that focuses on the essential things, but ensures 

(in a sustainable way and following the principle of 

subsidiarity) the defence of the individuals and of 

society, private property, justice, the existence of 

basic healthcare and social security services, highquality 

education and the protection of cultural and 

environmental heritage 

69 



ROMANIA 

Institute for Liberal Studies (ISL) 

isl.ro 

facebook.com/institutuldestudiiliberale 

The Institute for Liberal Studies association was created 

by a group of high-ranking Liberals, including several 

cabinet ministers and the Prime Minister of Romania in 

order to promote liberal values in Romanian society. These 

distinguished figures close to Romanian and European 

liberal values established the Institute as a specialised 

apparatus for the administrative and ideological education 

of Romanian citizens, as well as to provide research to the 

benefit of Romanian liberalism. 

The Institute organises public debates and conferences on 

the latest issues concerning Romania and the EU agenda. 

At the same time, it organises seminars, workshops on 

liberalism, EU institutions, public administration and media 

campaigns throughout the country. 

The Institute also focuses on social-political research on 

current events. 

The Institute for Liberal Studies is a founding member of 

ELF and works closely with FNF as well as with the Murray 

Rothbard Centre for Political Economy and Business as 

domestic partners. 

In 2007, the Institute for Liberal Studies was declared an 

association of public utility. 


35 Armeneasca Street · Sector 2 

021 043 Bucharest · Romania 

Phone +40 21 21 01 70 1 


Madalina Gavrila 

madalina.gavrila@isl.ro 

In the long term, the Institute aims to continue its research 

on public administration, political science and history, 

while also issuing its own studies and monographs. 

70 



SLOVENIA 

NOVUM – Inštitut za strateške 

in aplikativne študije 

NOVUM – Institute for Strategic and Applicable Research 

(Institute Novum) 

inovum.si 

Institute Novum is a non-profit, educational and policy 

research organisation established in Ljubljana, Slovenia. 

It aims to support the political decision-making process, 

to promote democracy, to foster public dialogue, to 

communicate new policy ideas and to develop new 

methods and approaches in political advertising. 

The Novum Institute is registered as an NGO under 

Slovenian law. Its board consists of ten members with 

economic, political, public and scientific backgrounds, 

which helps to make the Novum Institute a powerful 

advocacy group. 

Institute Novum pursues high standards of research and 

discourse. Through its activities, which include conceptual 

studies, public education and administrative and technical 

assistance, the institute contributes to the stock of 

knowledge available to political parties, policymakers and 

a targeted audience in Slovenia and abroad. 


Dunajska cesta 106 · 1000 Ljubljana · Slovenia 

Phone +386 1 42 55 17 8 


Sebastjan Pikl 

spikl@inovum.si 

We promote and protect liberal values, which include: 

democracy, the rule of law, good governance, respect 

for and protection of human rights, economic and social 

development and sustainable development. 

The Novum Institute disseminates its research findings 

through its website, the media, publications, seminars, 

roundtables, workshops, forums and conferences. 

71 



spain 

Asociación Galega para a Liberdade 

e a Democracia (GALIDEM) 

Galician Society for Freedom and Democracy (GALIDEM) 

facebook.com/galidem 

twitter.com/galidem 

GALIDEM has two main purposes: First, to encourage 

serious debate on Galician public policy issues by 

proposing ideas grounded in academic research; second, 

to promote education by organising seminars and 

publishing non-technical reports and articles, as well as 

publishing teaching materials on liberalism and economics 

to be used by students. 

Our idea of liberalism stems from our confidence in 

individuals, each freely pursuing his/her own interest as 

the way to best improve society as a whole. This is based 

on a long academic tradition in economics, found in the 

writings of British liberal thinkers such as Adam Smith and 

John Stuart Mill. 

with ELF to organise a Southern European School of 

Liberalism, together with partners such as Movimento 

Liberal Social, Forum for Greece and FNF. The event 

targeted college students interested in liberal policies and 

ideology. 


Rua do Bispo Lago 33 · 36700 Tui (Galicia) · Spain 

Phone +34 65 18 22 59 5 


Fernando del Río 

galidem@galidem.eu 

In order to accomplish our goals, we organise conferences, 

book presentations and meetings, publish articles in the 

media and issue non-technical reports, as well as student 

teaching materials. In the past, GALIDEM has partnered 

72 



spain 

Fundació Catalanista i 

Demòcrata (CatDem) 

CatDem Foundation 

catdem.cat 

facebook.com/fundacio.catdem 

twitter.com/catdem 

goo.gl/p0kKgL 

The CatDem Foundation (Catalanist and Democrat 

Foundation) is a private non-for-profit platform that 

generates ideas and encourages and fosters democratic 

values so that the Catalan people can move towards a 

society of freedom, democracy, economic progress and 

social justice. 

To reach these objectives, we consider essential the 

construction of our own State of Catalonia. 

Since it was born in 1994, the CatDem Foundation 

has worked to foster political Catalanism, becoming a 

reference point in the creation of political thought in 

Catalonia, based on our values of democracy, economic 

progress and social justice. 

CatDem Foundation is a member of ELF and the European 

Network of Political Foundations (ENOP). 

We seek an independent Catalonia in order to achieve: 

• Our own State 

• A new and radical democracy 

• A reformed welfare State that fosters social justice and 

economic progress 

• An active role in international politics as an EU member 

State 


Carrer Casp 80 · 08010 Barcelona · Catalonia 

Phone +34 93 21 55 84 8 


Martin Aramburu 

inter@catdem.org 

To achieve this, we organise public conferences, debates, 

seminars and publish a wide-ranging array of documents, 

such as reports, journals and electronic newsletters. 

73 



SWEDEN 

Bertil Ohlin institutet 

Bertil Ohlin Institute 

ohlininstitutet.org 

goo.gl/FG8u5e 

twitter.com/ohlininstitutet 

The Bertil Ohlin Institute is a foundation founded in 1993 

and named after Bertil Ohlin. Ohlin led the Liberal Party of 

Sweden (Folkpartiet) between 1944 and 1967. 

The purpose of our institute is to initiate research and 

debate on important social and political issues. We 

regularly organise lectures, debates and conferences open 

to the public. We also commission research reports and 

other publications. Most of our activities are in Swedish, 

but some of the papers are written in English. They can be 

found or ordered on our website. 

In 1977, Bertil Ohlin was awarded the Nobel Prize in 

economics, in recognition of his academic achievements. 

The institute maintains close contact with prominent 

university departments, with four out of nine seats on our 

board reserved for scholars from relevant fields, mainly the 

social sciences. 

Although the institute’s founders are affiliated with the 

Liberal Party of Sweden we operate independently of 

parties and interest groups, organisationally as well as 

financially. Our activities are mainly financed through 

grants from Liberal foundations. 


Bellmansgatan 10 · 118 20 Stockholm · Sweden 


Sofia Nerbrand 

kansliet@ohlininstitutet.org 

74 



SWEDEN 

Centre Party International 

Foundation (CPIF) 

Centerpartiets Internationella Stiftelse (Sweden) 

www3.centerpartiet.se/Lokal/cis/ 

facebook.com/CenterpartietsInternationellaStiftelse 

twitter.com/Centerpartiet 

The Centre Party International Foundation, CPIF, is a 

Swedish Party-Affiliated Organisation established in 1995 

by the Swedish Centre Party. It shares the same core values 

as the Centre Party, a social-liberal, green party with a 

strong emphasis on sustainability and decentralisation. 

CPIF’s mission is to strengthen democracy and human 

rights, with a focus on gender and environmental issues, 

in collaboration with political parties and organisations 

working to strengthen liberal values and local democracy, 

also outside large population centres. 

To achieve the mission of the foundation, CPIF focuses on 

two interdependent areas: Support for sister parties and 

affiliated political movements and organisations with the 

goal of ensuring well-functioning democratic political 

parties and support for multi-party systems with the 

goal of ensuring well-functioning, democratically based 

multiparty systems. 

In terms of the first area, Support for sister parties, CPIF 

currently supports Liberal sister parties in Burkina Faso, 

Malawi and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and two civil rights 

organisations, one in Belarus and one in Burkina Faso. The 

aim of this support is capacity-building. To achieve it, CPIF 

implements a three-step programme for political party 

capacity-building. Its objectives are to increase institutional, 

organisational, political and ideological capacity. 

Activities include training workshops on various topics, 

seminars for strategy development, revision of political 

manifestos, partner conferences for networking and 

training and mentoring, etc. 

capacity-building programme aimed at young politicians 

in eleven African countries. It is a true multi-party 

initiative, since both implementers and beneficiaries of 

the programme come from political parties with different 

ideologies. It is the fruit of collaboration between four of 

the seven Swedish Party-Affiliated Organisations, two from 

the government and two from the opposition. Specifically, 

CPIF implements the programme in Burkina Faso, Benin, 

Mali and Niger. 

Beyond the actual activities, one of the added values for 

CPIF’s partner organisations is the insight and access they 

get into the Centre Party and its affiliated organisations, 

such as Centre Women, Centre Students and Centre Youth. 

Over time, CPIF has built a platform of mutual collaboration 

which supports the exchange of knowledge and 

experiences. It gives both sides the opportunity to network 

and create mutual understanding for each other’s political 

context. CPIF strongly believes that increasing knowledge 

and understanding is crucial when working with politics 

across national borders. 


Postal address 

Box 2200 SE · 10315 Stockholm · Sweden 

Visiting address 

Stora Nygatan 4 · Gamla Stan · Stockholm · Sweden 

Phone +46 70 53 19 13 1 


Catherine Isaksson 

Catherine.Isaksson@centerpartiet.se 

In terms of the second area, Support for multi-party systems, 

CPIF is one of the implementers of the Programme for 

Young Politicians in Africa (PYPA). PYPA is a groundbreaking 

75 



SWEDEN 

Forum för reformer och 

entreprenörskap (FORES) 

Forum for Reforms, Entrepreneurship 

and Sustainability (FORES) 

fores.se 

goo.gl/6kLQjN 

twitter.com/fores_sverige 

youtube.com/tankesmedjanfores 

Fores – Forum for Reforms, Entrepreneurship and 

Sustainability – is a green and liberal think tank. We 

want to renew the debate in Sweden with a belief in 

entrepreneurship and opportunities for people to shape 

their own lives. 

The Fores board consists of experienced people from varied 

professional and political backgrounds. The composition 

of the board guarantees a strong independence from 

special interests and partisan politics. 

Some of the issues we are working on include: 

market-based solutions to climate change and other 

environmental challenges, the long-term benefits of 

migration and a welcoming society, the gains of increased 

levels of entrepreneurship, the need for modernisation 

of the welfare sector and the challenges of the rapidlychanging 

digital society. 


Bellmansgatan 10 · 118 20 Stockholm · Sweden 

Phone +46 84 52 26 60 


Andreas Bergström 

andreas.bergstrom@fores.se 

We hold seminars and roundtable discussions in town 

halls, parliaments and board rooms, publish reports, books 

and policy papers, put together and chair reference groups 

around policy issues, participate in media debates, and 

support policy-makers with relevant facts. We act as a link 

between curious citizens, opinion-makers, entrepreneurs, 

policy-makers and researchers, always striving for an 

open-minded, inclusive and thought-provoking dialogue. 

76 



SWEDEN 

Swedish International 

Liberal Centre (SILC) 

silc.se 

goo.gl/KngpAf 

twitter.com/silcfdemocracy 

Swedish International Liberal Centre (SILC) supports 

activism for democracy and human rights. Current 

programmes are focused on Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, 

Georgia, Serbia, Egypt, Tunisia, Cuba and Venezuela. 

SILC has its own publishing house, SILC Publishing, which 

publishes two books a year on the work of democracy 

activists in challenging environments. 

SILC takes a visible part in the Swedish debate on 

development aid and foreign policy. 

SILC is organisationally associated with the Swedish Liberal 

party (Liberalerna). 


Bastugatan 41 · 11825 Stockholm · Sweden 

Phone +46 70 77 69 65 0 


Martin Ängeby 

martin.angeby@silc.se 

Headquartered in Stockholm, SILC currently has a staff of 

fourteen, of which four are working from the programme 

office in Vilnius, Lithuania. SILC’s annual turnover is 

approximately EUR 2.4 million (2015). 

77 



United Kingdom 

CentreForum 

centreforum.org 

goo.gl/WRgJIM 

twitter.com/centreforum 

CentreForum is an independent think tank that develops 

evidence-based research to influence both national 

debate and policy making. 

Our driving principle is to promote opportunity for all and 

particularly for those in disadvantaged circumstances. Our 

work between 2015-17 will focus on policies to deliver 

good educational outcomes for all young people; on 

action to improve support and opportunities for those 

with mental health problems; and on raising the quality 

of rehabilitation in the justice system. We will do this 

through our evidence based and data-driven research 

and publications; consultation with commentators, 

government and those on the frontline.; and hosting 

events that bring together leading thinkers and decisionmakers 

in these important areas of public policy. 


6th Floor · Queen Anne’s Gate · London, SW1H 9BU 


Phone +44 20 73 40 11 60 


Anthony Rowlands 

anthony.rowlands@centreforum.org 

78 



member organisations 

List of All Members 

ELF currently has 36 member organisations 

Austria 

NEOS Lab – The Liberal Forum 

Belgium 

Centre Jean Gol 

Liberaal Kennis Centrum 

Bulgaria 

Liberal Institute for Political Analyses (LIPA) 

Croatia 

Međunarodni edukacijski centar/ 

International Educational Centre (IEC) 


Centrum Liberálních Studií/Centre for Liberal Studies 

Institut pro politiku a společnost, z.s. 

(Institute for Politics and Society) 

Estonia 

Liberalismi Akadeemia/Academy of Liberalism 

Finland 

Edistysmielisen tutkimuksen yhdistys r.y. e2/ 

Think tank e2 

Magma 

Svenska bildningsförbundet r.f. 

Germany 

Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit/ 

Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom 

Greece 

Liberty Forum of Greece – 

Markos Dragoumis (KEFIM) 

Hungary 

Republikon Scientific, Educational and Research 

Foundation 

Szabadságért Alapítvány/ 

For Freedom, for Liberal Thinking Foundation 

Italy 

Fondazione Critica Liberale 

LibMov 

Lithuania 

Atvira visvomenė ir jos draugai/ 

Open Society and its Friends 

Laisvės studijų centras/ 

Centre for Liberty Studies 


Haya van Someren Stichting/ 

VVD International 

Mr. Hans van Mierlo Stichting 

Prof.mr. B.M. Teldersstichting 

Stichting Internationaal Democratisch 

Initiatief (IDI) 

Pan-European 

European Liberal Youth (LYMEC) 

Poland 

Fundacja Industrial 

Fundacja Projekt: Polska 

Portugal 

Movimento Liberal Social 

79 



member organisations 

List of All Members 

ELF currently has 36 member organisations 

Romania 

Institute for Liberal Studies 

Slovenia 

NOVUM – Institute for strategic and applicable 

research 

Spain 

Asociación Galega para a Liberdade e a Democracia 

(GALIDEM) 

Fundació Catalanista i Demòcrata (CatDem) 

Sweden 

Bertil Ohlin Institute 

CentreParty International Foundation 

Forum för reformer och entreprenörskap/ 

Forum for Reforms, Entrepreneurship and 

Sustainability (FORES) 

Swedish International Liberal Centre (SILC) 


CentreForum 

80 





the board 

of directors 

2 

81

about us 

The Board of Directors 

Felicita Medved Slovenia 

fmedved@liberalforum.eu 

President | 2012 – Present 

Member of the ELF Board of Directors | 2010 – 2012 

Vice-President of Zares – New Politics | 2007 – 2010 

President of the Board of NOVUM | 2010 – Present 

Dr Jürgen Martens Germany 

jmartens@liberalforum.eu 

Vice President | 2012 – Present 

Member of the EU Committee of the Regions | 2009 – 2014 

State Minister of Justice and European Affairs, Free State of Saxony | 2009 – 2014 

Member of State Parliament Saxony | 2004 – 2014 

Roel Martens The Netherlands 

rmartens@liberalforum.eu 

Treasurer | 2012 – Present 

Senior Policy Advisor, Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs | 2001 – 2012 

Senior Policy Advisor, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs | 2013 – Present 

Member of VVD Advisory Committee on European Affairs | 2002 – Present 

Andreas Bergström Sweden 

abergstrom@liberalforum.eu 

Member of the Board of Directors | 2012 – present 

Deputy Director of FORES | 2012 – present 

Political Advisor to the Integration Minister | 2010 – 2012 

Political Advisor to the Liberal Party leader (Folkpartiet Liberalerna) | 2006 – 2010 

Giulio Ercolessi Italy 

gercolessi@liberalforum.eu 

Member of the Board of Directors | 2012 – Present 

Co-editor of “Gli Stati Uniti d’Europa“ | 2003 – Present 

Editorialist for “Critica Liberale“, monthly journal | 1999 – Present 

Secretary General of the Radical Party (Partito Radicale) | 1973 – 1974 

82 


about us



the 

secretariat 

3 

83

about us 

The Secretariat 


Rue des Deux Églises 39 · 1000 Brussels · Belgium 

Phone +32 2 669 13 18 

info@liberalforum.eu 

liberalforum.eu 

Susanne 

Hartig 


shartig@liberalforum.eu 

Phone +32 2 669 13 14 

Eva 

Ferluga 

Project Officer 

eferluga@liberalforum.eu 

Phone +32 2 669 13 16 

Verónica 

Fernández 

Finance & Personnel Administrator 

vfernandez@liberalforum.eu 

Phone +32 2 669 13 15 

Jeroen 

Dobber 

Programme Officer 

jdobber@liberalforum.eu 

Phone +32 2 669 13 17 

Björn 

Bonsdorff 

Research Associate 

researcher@liberalforum.eu 

Phone +32 2 669 13 10 

84 


about us

about us 

Annual Report 2015 


Publisher 


Rue des Deux Eglises 39 · 1000 Brussels · Belgium 

Phone +32 2 669 13 18 

info@liberalforum.eu 

liberalforum.eu 

Layout & production 

RAUM ZWEI 

Agency for Visual Communication 

Peterssteinweg 10 · 04107 Leipzig · Germany 

info@raum-zwei.com 

raum-zwei.com 

85 


about us

The European political foundation of the

AnNual Report 2015

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