Businessmen, politicians, and researchers will meet on 30 September in Sopot at the European Forum for New Ideas — one of the most knowledge-related international business events in Europe. The main theme of this year’s Forum will be: Europe in the face of growing social inequality, radicalism and geopolitical threats. Amid a thousand guests from the entire world, the Forum will welcome Donald Tusk, Jeffrey Sachs, Maroš Šefčovič, Salvatore Babones, and Luciano Floridi.
After seven months of gruelling negotiations with Greece, the EU managed to ease the acute crisis in the eurozone. Yet as soon as the hot subject of Grexit died down, Europe had to face another grave problem: the largest influx of refugees since World War II. Now the EU has to urgently develop a common migration policy and a common security policy. It has not faced a greater challenge since the accession of the East European states.
‘If we fail this exam, we will endanger one of the foundations of common Europe: the open borders,’ says Henryka Bochniarz, President of the Polish Lewiatan Confederation, the Forum’s organizer. ’In order to deal with this situation, we must speak with one voice. As a member of the European premier league, we ought to take an active part in working out an appropriate consensus. That is why traditionally all discussions which take place at the European Forum for New Ideas will be reflected in the Recommendations directed at the authorities of the European Union,’ adds Henryka Bochniarz.
Europe Revised
This year’s EFNI will devote a great deal of time to the migration crisis as well as to the conflicts around the Mediterranean Sea, in the Middle East, and behind our eastern border — in Ukraine. The Forum attendees will discuss the consequences of the growing religious and political radicalism, which pose another material threat to Europe. The next leitmotiv of this year’s debates will be one of the major themes in the global economic debate: the unequal distribution of income. The experts invited to attend the Forum will consider whether inequalities preclude the revitalization of the European economy. ‘While analysing this year’s themes from the business point of view, we will consider whether we can turn what some politicians perceive as a threat into an opportunity, and how to make a new beginning out of something that some see as the end,’ remarks Henryka Bochniarz.
The organizers of EFNI 2015 have planned approximately 70 hours of programme events. The core of the Forum will consist of five plenary sessions. The subjects discussed during those sessions will be then elaborated on in the course of over a dozen panel discussions and numerous debates.
More: http://efni.pl/en/
The complete list of EFNI 2015 panellists and guests is available on the Forum’s website: http://efni.pl/lista_panelistow/