A Strategy for Europe: What Does It Mean?

In light of the approaching European Council to be held in December 2013, which will be heavily focused on security and defence issues, developing European strategic thinking is equally important to ensure that Europe will be fit for the coming global century.

In a bid to stimulate alternative political debate on what Europe must do to adjust to the ongoing changes both within and outside its borders, Carnegie Europe, in cooperation with the European Council on Foreign Relations, hosted a high-level off-record roundtable seminar in Brussels.

This seminar, aimed at giving a strong impetus to European strategic thinking ahead of the December 2013 European Council, convened some 25 senior officials from the member states, national security advisers from the four European Global Strategy (EGS) founding countries, key relevant stakeholders from the European institutions, and a few select individuals with a unique subject background and access to the decision-making level.

The discussion paper, “A European Global Strategy: Ten Key Challenges,” by Stefan Lehne helped frame the debate.