# European Business Summit

European Business Summit (EBS) is an events and conference organiser, and the creator of one of the largest networking and debating events in Brussels – the annual European Business Summit.

## Description

EBS was founded in 2000 by the FEB (Federation of Enterprises in Belgium), and later joined in support by BUSINESS EUROPE. From the beginning its purpose was to bring together policy-makers and business leaders to discuss contemporary issues affecting the future of Europe, thus helping to improve the decision-making process on the EU-level.
EBS also organises the “Back from Davos” event, whose purpose is to follow up on the conclusions and achievements of the annual meetings of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The 2018 edition took place on January 30 in Brussels. It took a form of a conversation with Jyrki Katainen – EU Commissioner Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness and Daniela Vincenti, Editor-in-Chief at EurActiv.
Moreover, EBS supports events such as Think Digital, EU Energy Summit and the European Defence Industry Summit.
When organising its events EBS works with companies, associations, governments and regional representatives, NGOs, academia and think tanks from across multiple sectors.

## Honorary board

The Honorary Board of the European Business Summit consists of a number of figures with achievements in the areas of politics and business. Members of the Board include a former Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, the President of BusinessEurope Emma Marcegaglia and the CEO of the Solvay Group Jean-Pierre Clamadieu among others.

## Partnerships and patronage

EBS, under the provision of the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is supported by the FEB (Federation of Enterprises in Belgium) and BusinessEurope. EBS also operates under the high patronage of His Majesty the King of the Belgians.

## Annual European Business Summit

The European Business Summit (EBS) is the EBS’ annual flagship event organised in Brussels. Each year the Summit attracts more than 2,000 participants and 200 high-level speakers from over 60 countries. Previous guests and speakers include heads of state and government, European ministers, EU Commissioners, high-ranking individuals, civil society, and academia. Since 2014 the Summit has been organized in the Egmont Palace in Brussels, Belgium.

## EBS 2017

The 2017 edition of EBS took place on May 22–23, 2017 and welcomed a wide range of high-level speakers for key moments including Minister Wolfgang Schäuble who spoke about Europe in a new world, CEO Jean-Pierre Clamadieu on Sustainable Development Goals, former Prime Minister Mario Monti on the future of the European economy, MEP Guy Verhofstadt on the future of Europe, and 10 EU Commissioners speaking on creating a new narrative for Europe.

## EBS 2018

The 2018 edition of the Summit took place on May 23–24 in the Egmont Palace in Brussels. The theme of this edition was “Leading in a changing world: Europe at the forefront of global economic, social and political change”. The discussions focused on topics such as clean industry, ethics, trade, security and defence, digitalisation, energy and Brexit,

## Media

Every year the Summit attracts significant media attention, with over 250 journalists from international and European media outlets attending the event.

## List of summits

| No. | Date | Theme | Location |
| 16 | 23–24 May 2018 | Leading in a changing world: Europe at the forefront of global economic, social and political change | Palais d'Egmont |
| 15 | 22–23 May 2017 | A New Narrative For Europe | Palais d'Egmont |
| 14 | 1–2 June 2016 | A Time For Bold Moves – Sharp Policies to Enable Business Solutions | Palais d'Egmont |
| 13 | 6–7 May 2015 | Europe 4.0 – Delivering a vision for the future of Europe | Palais d'Egmont |
| 12 | 14–15 May 2014 | The Business Agenda 2014 – 2019: Rebuilding a Competitive Europe | Palais d'Egmont |
| 11 | 15–16 May 2013 | Unlocking Industrial Opportunities – An EU Strategy for Competitiveness | Autoworld, Parc du Cinquantenaire |
| 10 | 25–26 April 2012 | Skills for Growth | Square - Brussels Meeting Centre |
| 9 | 18–19 May 2011 | Leading or Lagging? | Tour et Taxis |
| 8 | 30 June–1 July 2010 | Putting Europe back on Track | |
| 7 | 2009 | Dare and Care : sustaining Europe's ambitions – Financing, Staffing and Greening | |
| 6 | 2007 | Boosting Business in Europe & Europe in Business, 50 Years of Europe | |
| 5 | 2004 | Research and innovation: A European strategy for more growth and jobs | |

## 'Knowledge partners'

* College of Europe
* Hill+Knowlton Strategies
* EurActiv
* Copenhagen Economics