The European Group

Chairman: Peter Sutherland
Deputy Chairman: Hervé de Carmoy
Deputy Chairman: Andrzej Olechowski
European Director: Paul Révay

Secretariat:
5, rue de Téhéran,
75008 Paris, France
telephone: 33-1: 45 61 42 80
telefax: 33-1: 45 61 42 87
Email: trilateral.europe@wanadoo.fr

The framework of the Trilateral European group is the European Union (formerly the European Community). Thus the country coverage of the Trilateral European group has grown as the European Community has grown. The Trilateral Commission was launched in mid-1973, shortly after the enlargement which brought Denmark, the United Kingdom, and Ireland into the European Community. Spanish and Portuguese groups were formed in the late 1970s, looking toward the entry of Spain and Portugal into the European Community. In more recent years, Austrian, Swedish and Finnish groups have been formed in advance of the entry of these countries into European Union. A Greek group has recently been added. Several additional national groups will be formed in the coming years as the European Union enlarges in Central and Eastern Europe. (The one non-EU country represented in the Trilateral European group is Norway. The consultations that went into the formation of the Trilateral Commission took place before the 1972 referendum which unexpectedly went against Norway joining the European Community.)

The 160-member ceiling for the European group is divided into national quotas. The four largest countries—Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom—each have a quota of 20; and Spain has a quota of 14. The remaining national quotas range from 9 to 4. As new national groups are formed in Central and Eastern Europe, the existing quotas will be somewhat reduced to keep the overall European group within its 160-member limit. A list of current members is available from the European office at the above address.

The idea of a unifying Europe playing a larger role on the global stage has been a driving idea in the Trilateral Commission from the beginning. Several of the leaders of the Trilateral European group worked closely with Jean Monnet and have had prominent roles in the building of Europe, including Max Kohnstamm (European Chairman, 1973-76), Georges Berthoin (European Chairman, 1976-92), and François Duchene (European Deputy Chairman, 1974-76). Other former European Deputy Chairmen include Egidio Ortona and Garret FitzGerald.

The emphasis given to a unifying Europe playing a larger role on the global stage makes it important for the European group to meet on its own as well as with North American and Japanese colleagues. The European group meets over a weekend each fall. The 2007 European meeting was held in Vienna, and the 2006 meeting was held in Turin. The 2008 European meeting will be held in Paris on October 24-26. See European Regional Meeting Programs for the programs of previous European regional meetings (since 1996).

Several national groups within the European group have some activities of their own, for example the German group. For more information on the Portuguese group, you can visit the site of the associated Forum Portugal Global (FPG)—which includes several leading Portuguese firms who have internationalized their business in the Trilateral regions and in Portuguese-speaking nations like Brazil. (FPG also has as members all the previous Portuguese members of the Trilateral Commission).