About EFNI

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 and 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 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.

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.

 

Organizers

Organizer
Co-organizer
Co-organizer
 

Previous EFNI guests

During its nine 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

Michaił Gorbaczow

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 HÜBNER

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-BOBIŃSKA

Civic Institute

Andrzej K. KOŹMIŃSKI

President of Koźmiński University

Jacek KRAWCZYK

President of the Employers' Group, European Economic and Social Committee

Dagmara KRZESIŃSKA

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