About EFNI

What is the European Forum for New Ideas?

The European Forum for New Ideas is one of the largest conferences in this part of the continent, dedicated to global trends, new ideas and the future of Europe.

Business representatives, charismatic speakers, leaders and policy-makers as well as authorities from the world of culture and science discuss the most important challenges for business and societies in a changing world, global trends and the future shape of the European Union during dozens of events, panel discussions, open meetings, counterpoints or night owl discussions.

Every year, the Forum gathers over a thousand participants – representatives of the world of business, science, culture and administration, Polish and European alike.

The European Forum for New Ideas has been organised since 2011 by the Polish Confederation Lewiatan in cooperation with BusinessEurope and the city of Sopot.

The idea behind the first edition of EFNI was to devise a platform for exchanging thoughts and concepts intended to improve the environment in which we live and carry out business.

Only by observing trends closely can we react quickly, proactively and constructively to shape the future of our continent.

The intellectual melting pot of business leaders with participants representing the world of politics, science, culture, NGOs and the media is intended to inspire entrepreneurs and make it possible to build a common voice of business in the debate on the future of Poland and Europe.

During the Forum, we look for answers to new global challenges, discuss changes taking place in the world and propose constructive solutions.

We share knowledge and define new ideas that are changing Europe, its societies and business. We create an opportunity for networking and establishing business relations with representatives of companies from different countries.

Organizer

Co-organizer

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EFNI guests

During its ten editions to date, the Forum has attracted almost 10 thousand attendees and more than 1,500 panellists. EFNI guests include i.a.:
Benjamin Barber
José Manuel Barroso
Zygmunt Bauman
Zbigniew Brzeziński
Norman Davies
George Friedman
Mikhail Gorbachev
Vytautas Landsbergis
Bernard-Henri Lévy
Yves Leterme
Peter Mandelson
Mario Monti
Herman Van Rompuy
Nouriel Roubini
Jeffrey Sachs
Frans Timmermans
Donald Tusk
Lech Wałęsa
Günter Verheugen
Oliver E. Williamson

Programme Council

35 members of the EFNI Programme Council ensure that the European Forum for New Ideas represents a high level of subject-matter expertise. The Council is composed of outstanding personalities from the world of economy, politics, science and culture, indisputable authorities in their fields, leaders shaping the future of Poland and Europe. They help us to identify the main challenges facing the European economy and support us in defining the directions of the Forum’s development and in selecting the themes for each edition.

Piotr Arak
Director of the Polish Economic Institute
Wiktor Askanas
University of New Brunswick, Lay Member of the Competition Tribunal of Canada
Dominika Bettman
CFO at Siemens Poland
Henryka Bochniarz
Vice President, BusinessEurope; President of the Main Council, Polish Confederation Lewiatan
Michał Boni
Member of the European Parliament
Małgorzata Bonikowska
President of the THINKTANK Centre and Centre for International Relations
Paweł Borys
President of the Management Board at the Polish Development Found
Jerzy Buzek
Member of the European Parliament, Chair of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) at the European Parliament
Roman Cieślak
Rector at SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities
Danuta Hubner
Member of the European Parliament, Chair of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs
Leszek Jażdżewski
Editor in Chief at "Liberte!"
Teresa Kamińska
Former President of the Pomeranian Special Economic Zone
Jacek Karnowski
Mayor of Sopot
Mirosław Kisyk
Chairman of the Board at MetLife TUnŻiR S.A.
Andrzej Klesyk
Nonexecutive Director, Billon Sp. z o.o.
Lena Kolarska-Babińska
Civic Institute
Andrzej K. Koźmiński
President of Koźmiński University
Jacek Krawczyk
Former President of the Employers' Group, European Economic and Social Committee
Dagmara Krześińska
Chairman of the Board at Coalition for Polish Innovation
prof. Agnieszka Kurczewska
Vice-Rector for External Relations, University of Lodz
Andrzej Lubowski
Economist, author, feature writer
Radosław Markowski
Director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities
Henryk Orfinger
Chairman of the Board at Dr Irena Eris
Wojciech Przybylski
President of the Res Publica foundation
Maciej Żylicz
Chairman of the Board at the Foundation for Polish Science
Sławomir S. Sikora
Chairman of the Board at Citi Handlowy
Aleksander Smolar
Chairman of the Board at Stefan Batory Foundation
Kamil Wyszkowski
CEO, Global Compact Network Poland
Beata Stelmach
Chairman of the Board at PZL-Świdnik
Magdalena Środa
Faculty of Philosophy and Sociology, University of Warsaw
Paweł Wideł
President of the Lewiatian Association of Employers in Automotive and Industrial Goods Manufacturing
Maciej Witucki
Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Orange Polska; President of Polish Confederation Lewiatan

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