A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmental organizations, but some are semi-autonomous agencies within a government, and some are associated with particular political parties, businesses, or the military. Think tanks are often funded by individual donations, with many also accepting government grants.
Wolfgang Schüssel is an Austrian politician. He was Chancellor of Austria for two consecutive terms from February 2000 to January 2007. While being recognised as a rare example of an active reformer in contemporary Austrian politics, his governments were also highly controversial from the beginning, starting with the fact that he formed a coalition government with Jörg Haider's Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) on both occasions. In 2011, he retired from being an active member of parliament due to a multitude of charges of corruption against members of his governments.
Wilfried Achiel Emma Martens was a Belgian politician who served as prime minister of Belgium from 1979 to 1981 and from 1981 to 1992. A member of the Flemish Christian People's Party, during his premiership he oversaw the transformation of Belgium into a federal state. He was one of the founders of the European People's Party.
James Edmund Moncrieff Elles is a former Conservative Party Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England.
The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian democratic, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Christian-democratic parties in 1976, it has since broadened its membership to include liberal-conservative parties and parties with other centre-right political perspectives. On 31 May 2022, the party elected as its President Manfred Weber, who was also EPP's Spitzenkandidat in 2019.
Hans-Gert Pöttering is a German lawyer, historian and conservative politician, who served as President of the European Parliament from January 2007 to July 2009 and as Chairman of the CDU-affiliated Konrad Adenauer Foundation from 2010 to 2017.
The European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) is the EU’s think tank for foreign and security policy.
Giannis Valinakis is a Greek politician and university professor. He is the former Greek Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is currently President of the Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence at the University of Athens, Jean Monnet Professor ad Personam, and a member of the Executive Board of the Centre for European Studies in Brussels.
The Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation is a Democracy Foundation closely linked to the Moderate Party. It focuses on training of politicians active in the Moderate Party’s sister parties, especially women and youth engaged in politics, in countries where the aid is believed to be of best use. Different important issues about how a democratic political party works are discussed during the educational programmes.
The International Centre for Policy Studies (ICPS) is an independent NGO, founded in 1994 which aims to promote public policy concepts and practice and apply them to influential policy research that affects both the public and private sectors in Ukraine.
The European Ideas Network is an open centre-right think tank sponsored by the EPP Group and based in the European Parliament in Brussels. The EIN works as a pan-European policy framework designed to promote new thinking on the key challenges facing the countries of the European Union. With an active membership of around 3,000 policy-makers and opinion-shapers across the European Union, the EIN brings together foremost MEPs — as these represent the views of the European population, and then politicians, who coming from EU member states are confirmed to be democratically elected, hereafter businessman, academics, policy advisers, think-tankers, journalists and representatives of civil society who share a common outlook Europe-wide, as well as non-party experts and commentators interested in public issues being addressed.
The Casimir Pulaski Foundation is a prominent independent, non-partisan think tank based in Warsaw, Poland. Named after Casimir Pulaski, the foundation specializes in foreign and security policy within the transatlantic and post-Soviet contexts. It is one of two Polish non-governmental organizations that partners with the Council of Europe.
The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, founded in 1982, is an independent energy research institute, based in Oxford.
Günter Burghardt, a senior European civil servant and former European Union ambassador to the United States, is a European lawyer and academic.
The Union of the Robert Schuman Institute for Developing Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe is the European level training institution of the European People's Party political family, based in Budapest, Hungary. It was founded in 1995 as the successor of the Christian Democratic Academy for Central and Eastern Europe. The members of the union of RSI are political parties, organisations and foundations and its main activity comprises political and civic education.
GLOBSEC is a non-partisan, non-governmental organisation based in Bratislava, Slovakia. One of its main activities is the annual GLOBSEC Bratislava Global Security Forum, in existence since 2005. Other projects include the Tatra Summit conference on European affairs or Chateau Béla Central European Strategic Forum. Its think-tank called GLOBSEC Policy Institute boasts a wide research area based on four pillars. Its main outputs are policy papers and analyses on different topics in the area of international politics and security issues. Since 2016, GLOBSEC is not only the name of one of the top forums on international security worldwide, but also of the legal entity and organiser of the Forum.
The Prague European Summit is a platform for a regular high-level strategic debate on the future of the European Union and other European issues. It is the only platform of this kind focused on the European Union in Central and Eastern Europe. It offers space for an informal dialogue among political representatives, high-ranking state officials, representatives of interest groups, businessmen, academicians and journalists.
The Latvian Institute of International Affairs is an oldest research center and think tank in Latvia. Founded on May 20, 1992, the organization seeks to provide “Latvia's decision-makers, experts, and the wider public with analysis, recommendations, and information about international developments, regional security issues, and foreign policy strategy and choices.” The Institute develops and publishes research, organises high-level international conferences and promotes cooperation with Latvian and foreign research institutions. The LIIA is a nonprofit and does not receive regular government funding. LIIA’s funding is project-based. Its projects are funded through close cooperation with a range of other organisations and foundations, both Latvian and foreign. The Institute implements international cooperation projects within the European Commission's Horizon Europe and Erasmus+ programs. International projects are also funded by such recognisable supporters as the National Endowment for Democracy, Freedom House, the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, EEA and Norway Grants. LIIA’s research focuses on important topics such as Latvian foreign policy; transatlantic relations; security issues in the Baltic Sea region; European Union policies, including its neighborhood policy and Eastern Partnership; and multilateral and bilateral relations with Russia.
The Warsaw Security Forum (WSF) is an international conference focusing on security and defense issues. It takes place annually in Warsaw, Poland, and brings together politicians, experts and business representatives to discuss current security challenges and strategies.
