Event
2 December 2025
Reading Time: 2'
Time To Decide Europe Summit 2025
2 December 2025, 08:30 – 17:00
Grand Hall, ERSTE Campus, Am Belvedere 1, 1100 Wien
»The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born, now is the time of monsters.«
– Antonio Gramsci (paraphrase by Slavoj Zizek)
We are living in a time of profound global change. Old certainties are increasingly being turned upside down. Interstate conflicts once consigned to history are flaring up in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. Democracy is in retreat, with autocracies now outnumbering democracies for the first time in two decades. The United States, once considered a beacon of democracy and a champion of the rules-based international order, has upended global trade and sought to export its illiberal revolution to Europe. The EU, once a project of peace, is having to find its war footing to deter Russian aggression without being able to rely on US security guarantees. Europeans are beginning to rethink and rearm, but progress is slow. As one strategist put it: Europe must muscle up »at the speed of fear.«
For Europe to thrive and become an independent pole in the emerging multipolar order, it must also lead on innovation, competitiveness and technology. All of this demands greater European cooperation. But the »ever closer union« is passé, while nationalist and anti-European parties are gaining ground, threatening to paralyse Europe from within. To win over voters, Europe needs more than fear. It needs a positive vision for the future and the political leaders willing to make bold decisions. Europe, it is Time to Decide!
Format: There will be three 90-minute panel discussions on specific issues relating to the future of Europe, each chaired by a highly distinguished personality. Eight experts will participate in each discussion to present specific proposals and solutions for the respective issue. The event will conclude with a fourth panel discussion, bringing together all three chairs to reflect on the key findings and share their visions for the future of Europe.
Agenda
Arrival
Check-in at ERSTE Campus is possible for participants from 08:30.
Welcome Remarks
Beate Meinl-Reisinger, Austrian Minister for European and International Affairs
Session I: From Ambition to Action: How to make Europe competitive again?
Slowing growth and productivity, high energy costs, demographic challenges, fragmented financial markets, and increasing global competition and protectionism threaten Europe’s long-term economic prosperity. At the same time, Europe needs to mobilise huge sums of money to drive forward the green and digital transitions as well as its military build-up. How can Europe address its structural weaknesses and mobilise the necessary investments to strengthen its competitiveness and defence capabilities and become a leader in the technologies of the future?
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Martina Dalić
Martina Dalić is the president of the management board of Croatian food company Podravka. She has a wealth of experience in both the private and public sector, as well as in international institutions. In her career in the public sector, she served as Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia and Minister of Economy, as well as Minister of Finance. As President of the Management Board of Partner banka Zagreb and Chief Economist at Privredna banka Zagreb she also gained significant experience in the private sector.
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Andreas Treichl
Andreas Treichl serves as Chairman of ERSTE Foundation, Erste Group’s core shareholder, that serves the common good with a focus on financial health and strengthening a democratic Europe. He started his international career in banking at Chase Manhattan Bank. In 1997 he became CEO of the then small Austrian “Erste Bank”, now Erste Group, the largest retail bank in Central Europe. He remained its CEO until 2020.
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Ebtesam Al-Ketbi
Ebtesam Al-Ketbi is the founder and president of the Emirates Policy Center (EPC), one of the most influential think tanks in the Arab world, and a professor of Political Science at the United Arab Emirates University. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, the Global Advisory Board of the Observer Research Foundation in India and the Advisory Council of the Middle East Institute in Washington.
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James C. O’Brien
James C. O’Brien served as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs until January 2025. He has spent half his career in the US Government, serving at various times as adviser to the Secretary of State, Principal Deputy of Policy Planning, ambassador for sanctions policy, and presidential envoy for the Balkans and for hostage affairs. He is a 2025/2026 Europe’s Futures Fellow of the Institute for Human Sciences and ERSTE Foundation.
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Marie-Helene Ametsreiter
Marie-Helene Ametsreiter is a General Partner at Speedinvest and leads the venture capital fund‘s Corporate Programme. She supports founders with go-to-market strategies and advises corporate leaders on innovation. Prior to joining Speedinvest, she served as the CEO of a mobile telecom operator and was responsible for global sustainability and ESG initiatives at OMV, a major oil and gas corporation.
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Rosa Balfour
Rosa Balfour is the director of Carnegie Europe. Her fields of expertise include European politics, institutions, and foreign and security policy. Her current research focuses on the relationship between domestic politics and Europe’s global role. She is also an advisor to Women in International Security Brussels (WIIS-Brussels) and an associate fellow at LSE IDEAS. She was a 2018/2019 Europe’s Futures Fellow of the Institute for Human Sciences and ERSTE Foundation.
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Sigrid Kaag
Sigrid Kaag is currently teaching at Sciences Po and is Co-Chair of the board of directors of the United Nations Foundation, amongst others. At the UN she served as Under-Secretary-General for Lebanon (2015-2017) and top negotiator for Gaza (2024–2025). From 2017 to 2024 she served in Dutch politics as Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation and Minister of Foreign Affairs as well as First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. She was Leader of the Democrats 66 (D66) from 2020 to 2023.
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Karel Lannoo
Karel Lannoo has been Chief Executive of the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) since 2000. Karel was an independent director of BME (Bolsas y Mercados Españolas), the listed company that manages the Spanish securities markets (2006–2018). He published several books on capital markets, MiFID and the financial crisis. He is the author of many op-eds and articles published by CEPS or in international newspapers and reviews.
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Tomáš Sedláček
Tomáš Sedláček is the director of the Václav Havel Library. Formerly chief macroeconomic strategist for the Czech Republic’s largest bank, he is a longstanding member of the Czech National Economic Council. He gained international recognition for his book Economics of Good and Evil, which has been translated into 22 languages. He is a 2025/2026 Europe’s Futures Fellow of the Institute for Human Sciences and ERSTE Foundation.
Coffee break
Session II: Illiberalism, Inequality and Broternity: The Trumpian Revolution and its Impact on Europe
Donald Trump’s second presidency is poised to fundamentally transform transatlantic relations. Not only do the US and Europe pursue different goals on many issues – from Ukraine to trade and from climate to technology regulation –, the rift is much deeper. As US Vice President J.D. Vance made clear in his speech at the Munich Security Conference, the Trump administration views liberal Europe not as an ally but as an ideological adversary. This has changed the identities of political parties in Europe as well. Former avowed transatlanticists like the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz have become European sovereigntists, advocating for more independence from the US. Conversely, far-right parties are now particularly enthusiastic about the US and are trying to emulate Trump’s illiberal counterrevolution. How should Europe adapt to this new situation and rethink the transatlantic relationship?
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Rafal Trzaskowski
Rafał Trzaskowski has been Mayor of Warsaw since 2018. Previously, he served as a member of the European Parliament (2009–2013), Minister of Administration and Digitization (2013–2014) as well as Secretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland (2014–2015). He was elected a member of the Polish Parliament in 2015 and was the Civic Platform’s candidate for the Presidency of Poland in 2020 and 2025.
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Veronica Anghel
Veronica Anghel is an assistant professor at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS) of the European University Institute (EUI), and a visiting professor at the College of Europe. She is a co-director of the RSCAS European Governance and Politics Programme. Her research focuses on European integration and EU enlargement, EU foreign relations and the transatlantic relationship. She was a 2022/2023 Europe’s Futures Fellow of the Institute for Human Sciences and ERSTE Foundation.
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Francis Fukuyama
Francis Fukuyama is Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. He is also Director of Stanford’s Ford Dorsey Master’s in International Policy Program. His 1992 book, The End of History and the Last Man, has appeared in over twenty foreign editions. His most recent book, Liberalism and Its Discontents, was published in 2022. He is a 2025/2026 Europe’s Futures Fellow of the Institute for Human Sciences and ERSTE Foundation.
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Nathalie Tocci
Nathalie Tocci is the director of the Istituto Affari Internazionali, part-time professor at the School of Transnational Governance, Honorary Professor at the University of Tübingen and independent non-executive director of Acea. She has been Special Advisor to EU High Representatives Federica Mogherini and Josep Borrell. In that capacity, she wrote the EU Global Strategy and worked on its implementation. She was a 2022/2023 Europe’s Futures Fellow of the Institute for Human Sciences and ERSTE Foundation.
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James C. O’Brien
James C. O’Brien served as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs until January 2025. He has spent half his career in the US Government, serving at various times as adviser to the Secretary of State, Principal Deputy of Policy Planning, ambassador for sanctions policy, and presidential envoy for the Balkans and for hostage affairs. He is a 2025/2026 Europe’s Futures Fellow of the Institute for Human Sciences and ERSTE Foundation.
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Ivan Krastev
Ivan Krastev is chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies, Sofia, and Albert Hirschman Permanent Fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna (IWM). In 2019 he was awarded a Mercator Senior Fellowship and in 2020 both the Jean Améry Prize for European Essay Writing and the Lionel Gelber Prize for his book The Light that Failed. A Reckoning. He is also a founding board member of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
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Lea Ypi
Lea Ypi is a professor of Political Theory at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her areas of expertise include contemporary political theory, German idealism and the intellectual history of the Balkans. Her book Free: Coming of Age at the End of History has been translated in more than thirty-five languages and won several awards. Her latest book, Indignity: A Life Reimagined was published in September 2025. She is a 2025/2026 Europe’s Futures Fellow of the Institute for Human Sciences and ERSTE Foundation.
Lunch Break
Session III: Small States, Big Challenges: How to Navigate the Changing World Order as a Small Country?
The crisis of multilateralism and the rules-based international order as well as the return of great power rivalry pose particular challenges for small states, as they are much more dependent on functioning international norms and institutions. In a world in which the rule of law is replaced by the law of the strongest and war is again becoming the continuation of politics by other means, they must fear for their very existence. What strategies should small states pursue in order to survive and thrive in this uncertain world?
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Edi Rama
Edi Rama has been Prime Minister of Albania since 2013 and leader of the Socialist Party of Albania since 2005. Prior to that he served as Mayor of Tirana for three consecutive terms from 2000 to 2011 and Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports from 1998 to 2000. He used to be a professor of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts, a player in the national basketball team, and authored two books, Refleksione and Kurban.
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Nikola Dimitrov
Nikola Dimitrov is the co-founder and President of the Balkan Center for Constructive Policies – SOLUTION. As Foreign Minister of North Macedonia (2017–2020) he was the chief negotiator of the Prespa Agreement, paving the way for NATO membership and the opening of EU accession talks. He was elected as a member of parliament in 2020, moving on to be Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs, a position he held until January 2022.
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Sigrid Kaag
Sigrid Kaag is currently teaching at Sciences Po and is Co-Chair of the board of directors of the United Nations Foundation, amongst others. At the UN she served as Under-Secretary-General for Lebanon (2015-2017) and top negotiator for Gaza (2024–2025). From 2017 to 2024 she served in Dutch politics as Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation and Minister of Foreign Affairs as well as First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. She was Leader of the Democrats 66 (D66) from 2020 to 2023.
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Alexander Schallenberg
Is an Austrian diplomat, jurist, and politician. He the president of the Europe’s Futures Initiative. Between June 2019 and March 2025, he served as Federal Minister for European and International Affairs of the Republic of Austria. From October to December 2021 and from January to March 2025 he held the office of Federal Chancellor.
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Ebtesam Al-Ketbi
Ebtesam Al-Ketbi is the founder and president of the Emirates Policy Center (EPC), one of the most influential think tanks in the Arab world, and a professor of Political Science at the United Arab Emirates University. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, the Global Advisory Board of the Observer Research Foundation in India and the Advisory Council of the Middle East Institute in Washington.
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Rosa Balfour
Rosa Balfour is the director of Carnegie Europe. Her fields of expertise include European politics, institutions, and foreign and security policy. Her current research focuses on the relationship between domestic politics and Europe’s global role. She is also an advisor to Women in International Security Brussels (WIIS-Brussels) and an associate fellow at LSE IDEAS. She was a 2018/2019 Europe’s Futures Fellow of the Institute for Human Sciences and ERSTE Foundation.
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Ivan Krastev
Ivan Krastev is chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies, Sofia, and Albert Hirschman Permanent Fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna (IWM). In 2019 he was awarded a Mercator Senior Fellowship and in 2020 both the Jean Améry Prize for European Essay Writing and the Lionel Gelber Prize for his book The Light that Failed. A Reckoning. He is also a founding board member of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
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Gladden Pappin
Gladden Pappin is president of the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs. A native of the United States, he was previously a visiting senior fellow at the Mathias Corvinus Collegium, as well as associate professor of politics at the University of Dallas. He is the cofounder and deputy editor of American Affairs as well as the cofounder of Postliberal Order. Previously he was a fellow at the University of Notre Dame’s de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture, and the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study.
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Nathalie Tocci
Nathalie Tocci is the director of the Istituto Affari Internazionali, part-time professor at the School of Transnational Governance, Honorary Professor at the University of Tübingen and independent non-executive director of Acea. She has been Special Advisor to EU High Representatives Federica Mogherini and Josep Borrell. In that capacity, she wrote the EU Global Strategy and worked on its implementation. She was a 2022/2023 Europe’s Futures Fellow of the Institute for Human Sciences and ERSTE Foundation.
Coffee Break
Session IV: Conclusion and Take-aways
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Judy Dempsey
Judy Dempsey is a Senior Fellow at Carnegie Europe and was editor-in-chief of its Strategic Europe blog. Prior to that, she was a columnist for the International New York Times and a correspondent for the International Herald Tribune and the Financial Times, reporting from Berlin, Brussels, Jerusalem and Eastern Europe. She was a 2020/2021 Europe’s Futures Fellow of the Institute for Human Sciences and ERSTE Foundation.
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Edi Rama
Edi Rama has been Prime Minister of Albania since 2013 and leader of the Socialist Party of Albania since 2005. Prior to that he served as Mayor of Tirana for three consecutive terms from 2000 to 2011 and Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports from 1998 to 2000. He used to be a professor of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts, a player in the national basketball team, and authored two books, Refleksione and Kurban.
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Rafal Trzaskowski
Rafał Trzaskowski has been Mayor of Warsaw since 2018. Previously, he served as a member of the European Parliament (2009–2013), Minister of Administration and Digitization (2013–2014) as well as Secretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland (2014–2015). He was elected a member of the Polish Parliament in 2015 and was the Civic Platform’s candidate for the Presidency of Poland in 2020 and 2025.
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Martina Dalić
Martina Dalić is the president of the management board of Croatian food company Podravka. She has a wealth of experience in both the private and public sector, as well as in international institutions. In her career in the public sector, she served as Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia and Minister of Economy, as well as Minister of Finance. As President of the Management Board of Partner banka Zagreb and Chief Economist at Privredna banka Zagreb she also gained significant experience in the private sector.
