A sidebar on Europe’s geopolitical strategy | ECFR Annual Council Meeting 2024

The ECFR Annual Council Meeting 2024 will take place on 4-5 July 2024 in Madrid
Europe’s Choice: Is 2024 Europe’s moment of reinvention?
The results of the European elections, and the subsequent French parliamentary election, are sending shockwaves across the continent. It comes on top of a series of geopolitical turbulences which have upended conventional wisdom across capitals on defence/security, trade, green tech, and enlargement. In this context, how can Europe retool to become a hard power in a world of deterrence and derisking? How can we best defend Ukraine, and stabilize the Middle East? How can we strategically manage interdependence, reduce risks, and forge new relationships with middle powers like those in Asia, Africa, and Latin America? Can we make 2024 the year of Europe’s reinvention? Will Europe’s fate be decided by Putin, Xi Jinping, or Trump, or can Europeans take their destiny into their own hands in 2024?
Coming together the week where France and the UK go to the polls, and between the EU’s top jobs being decided and NATO’s Washington summit, this year’s ECFR Annual Council Meeting will seek to set Europe’s new strategic course in 2024 and beyond.
DAY 1 - Thursday, 4 July 2024
14.00 - 14.05 - WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS
14.05 - 14.15 - ECFR INSIGHT
🢒 DETERRING PUTIN AND PLANNING FOR TRUMP: WHAT DO EUROPEANS WANT FROM DEFENCE AND SECURITY?
14.15 - 14.45 - IN CONVERSATION: A SIDEBAR ON EUROPE’S GEOPOLITICAL STRATEGY 
14.45 - 15.45 - PANEL
🢒 IS 2024 EUROPE’S HARD POWER MOMENT?
17.45 - 18.45 - PANEL
🢒 WARS AND SHADOW WARS: WHAT ARE EUROPE’S OPTIONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST?
DAY 2 - Friday, 5 July 2024
09.00 - 09.30 - IN CONVERSATION
🢒 PRESIDENT BIDEN’S PHILOSOPHY IN HIS POTENTIAL SECOND TERM
09.45-10.45 - PANEL
🢒 WHOSE ORDER IS IT ANYWAY? UNPACKING A MIDDLE POWERS-LED WORLD
12.30 - 12.45 - ECFR INSIGHT
🢒 Six scenarios in a second Trump presidency
12.45 - 13.45 - PANEL
🢒 PRINCIPLES TO LIVE BY: HOW EUROPE CAN PREPARE FOR THE TRUMPIAN MAKE-OVER
13.45 - 13.55 - CLOSING