European Council on Foreign Relations

ECFR has offices in Berlin, London, Madrid, Paris, Rome, Warsaw and Sofia, with Berlin serving as headquarter. When ECFR was founded in 2007, the Berlin, London, Madrid, Paris and Sofia offices were opened at the same time. The Rome office was opened in 2010; the Warsaw office in September 2011.

The think tank's research is broadly divided into four programmes. These are Asia & China, Wider Europe, European Power and Middle East & North Africa.[4] In addition, ECFR's fellows regularly publish policy papers on subjects that fall outside of these parameters. ECFR staff regularly publishes analysis and commentary in major European newspapers.[5][6][7][8] ECFR publishes individual policy reports, briefs, and memos, which are downloadable for free from ECFR's website. It has three regular publications, the annual European Foreign Policy Scorecard, that started in 2011;[9][10] China Analysis (quarterly) and an annual review of the EU and human rights at the UN. In addition to the regular publications, ECFR often has larger projects, which will include a set of publications on a given subject. ECFR's national offices hold regular events such as seminars, ginger groups and publication launches. Guest speakers at ECFR London's invitation-only ‘Black Coffee Mornings’ have included Douglas Alexander, Louise Arbour, Joseph Nye, Pauline Neville-Jones, and George Robertson.[11]

ECFR's Council currently has over 300 members,[12] each serving a renewable three-year term. The membership includes former prime ministers, presidents, European commissioners, current and former parliamentarians and ministers, public intellectuals, business leaders, activists and cultural figures from the EU member states and candidate countries.[13]

The Council is the strongest and most visible expression of ECFR's pan-European identity. Through their individual networks and collective engagement with ECFR policy and advocacy initiatives, Council Members help us ECFR to Europeanise the national conversations in the EU capitals on the EU's foreign policy priorities and challenges.

The Council meets once a year as a full body to discuss how to advance its objectives. In addition, groups of council members form various geographical and thematic task forces, which provide ECFR staff with advice and feedback on policy ideas and assist with ECFR's activities within their own countries. The council is currently chaired by Carl Bildt (co-chair), Lykke Friis and Norbert Röttgen. The other members of the board are Ian Clarkson, Sylvie Kauffmann, Ivan Krastev, Andrzej Olechowski, Andrew Puddephatt, Javier Solana, and Helle Thorning-Schmidt.

ECFR is a private not-for-profit organization that relies on donations.[14] It was originally established with the support of Open Society Foundations, Communitas Foundation and Fundación Para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo Exterior (FRIDE).

About half of ECFR's funding comes from foundations, one third from governments and the rest from corporations and individuals.[15] Open Society Foundations is the main donor to ECFR, funding with its grants one third (£2,345,566 in 2017) of ECFR's total income (£7,278,122 in 2017).[16] Other donors include major organizations mainly from Europe and the Western world such as the foundation Stiftung Mercator (£710,753 or ~10% total funding in 2017), European and the Japanese governments, NATO, leading corporations such as Daimler AG and Microsoft as well as wealthy individuals.[17][18]

ECFR regularly publishes comment and analysis pieces on foreign policy issues on its website. ECFR also publishes podcasts in English and German, and occasional podcasts in French, Italian and Spanish.[19] ECFR has a Twitter feed.[20]

ECFR was named "Best New Think Tank in the World" for 2009 and 2010 by the University of Pennsylvania's annual Global "Go-To Think-Tanks" report.[21][22]

ECFR has received Prospect Magazine's "Think Tank of the Year Awards" in 2015 (EU International Affairs Think Tank of the Year),[23] 2014 (UK International Affairs Think Tank of the Year),[24] and 2010 (British-based think tank dealing with non-British affairs Think Tank of the Year).[25]

In 2011, the academic responsible for compiling the University of Pennsylvania rankings, Dr James G. McGann, wrote in a book on global think tanks: “The fact that ECFR attempts to pursue policy advice and research through a pan-European focus means that it is free from the national restrictions of operating with one particular state framework in mind. In this sense, it is able to prescribe solutions and recommendations that benefit Europe as a whole and perhaps to a much greater extent than if they had done so with only, for example, the interests of Germany or France in mind. A framework that incorporates all the various workings and desires of each of the affected actors is far more likely to be successful from a long-term standpoint than one that attempts to resolve a regional or global issue by pushing for a solution that only benefits or alleviates the concerns of an individual state.”[26]

• List of think tanks
• List of think tanks in the United Kingdom
• Common Foreign and Security Policy
• Enlargement of the European Union
• European Neighbourhood Policy

• European Council on Foreign Relations
• FRIDE – Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo Exterior
• Asia Centre, Centre d'études Asie
• European Union Institute for Security Studies