Warsaw – ESI at the Third Task Force Meeting between the Council of Europe and European Think Tanks on "Challenges to European Societies"

10 April 2014
Marcin Zaborowski (PISM) – Thanos Dokos (ELIAMEP)
Marcin Zaborowski (PISM) – Thanos Dokos (ELIAMEP)

ESI's Gerald Knaus participated in the Third Task Force Meeting between the Council of Europe and European Think Tanks on "Challenges to European Societies: Identifying Major Risks and Finding Innovative Policies".

The task force project is aimed at addressing the deeper and long-term challenges affecting European societies which have a direct or indirect impact on the Council of Europe's mission. A starting point should be the identification of major new trends and challenges for European societies such as diversity, demographics, life in urban mega-communities etc. The second task should be to identify the consequences those phenomena have on the Council's main fields of activity such as democracy, human rights and the rule of law. In a final step, the question should be posed if those challenges can be properly addressed by established instruments and policies or how new formats could look like. The report of the first task force entitled "Smart Power - Ways of Enhancing the Council of Europe's Impact" is already published, whereas the preparation of the second task force report on "The Pan-European Dimension: Ensuring the Use of the Council's Wider European Membership" is underway.

Participants of the third task force meeting:

  • Thanos Dokos (ELIAMEP, Athens)
  • Istvan Gyarmati (Center for Democracy Public Foundation, Budapest)
  • Gerald Knaus (ESI, Berlin)
  • Ana Perona-Fjeldstad (Wergeland Centre, Oslo)
  • Marcin Zaborowski (PISM, Warsaw)
  • André Härtel (Council of Europe, Strasbourg)
  • Roderick Parkes (PISM, European Union Programme Coordinator)
  • Patrycja Sasnal (PISM, Head of the Middle East and North Africa Project)