The founding members want to move the European Union out of an era of introspection, which deepened after the French and Dutch 'no' votes, and force it to face up to its global responsibilities. They have drawn up a Statement of Principles which calls on European heads of state and government to:

. Develop a more coherent and vigorous European foreign policy, in order to tackle an increasing number of global challenges, including climate change, world poverty, nuclear proliferation and the surge of violent extremism;
. Co-operate more effectively in multilateral organisations, such as the UN, the World Bank, the IMF, and WTO in order to increase the EU's collective power;
. Stand by the EU commitment to the prospect of eventual membership for Turkey and Western Balkans countries, in order to encourage their continued political, economic and social development;
. Increase incentives - such as visa regimes and market access - for the EU's immediate neighbours to draw them further into the EU's sphere of influence;
. Make the EU's aid and trade relations - including the EUR 12bn of European Neighbourhood Policy and EUR 22bn of aid to the third world under the Cotonou Agreement - more conditional on political reform in recipient countries;
. Use the full gamut of European power to back European values, including, if all else fails, a willingness to use military force to stop genocide or avert humanitarian catastrophes, on both the wider European continent and around the world.

The ECFR's board will be chaired by Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland now serving as UN Special Envoy for Kosovo, Joschka Fischer, former German Foreign Minister, and Mabel van Oranje, human rights activist and International Advocacy Director for the Open Society Institute.

Joschka Fischer said:
"The European Union has been a powerful example for integration, prolonged peace, and prosperity in a complex international environment. The international system of the 21st century needs a strong and united EU and ECFR will make a crucial contribution to this end."

Martti Ahtisaari said:
"The European Council on Foreign Relations is essential in creating channels for open debate in Europe. ECFR promotes the need for Europe to become an important unified, courageous, innovative and coherent actor."

Mabel van Oranje said:
"Europe's weight in the world can no longer be taken for granted. Either we unite and have an impact on global problems such as terrorism, the climate crisis and AIDS. Or, the fate of our generation will be decided by others. The European Council on Foreign Relations will take a fresh approach to the issues that will shape our future."

Mark Leonard, ECFR's Executive Director and author of "Why Europe will run the 21st Century" said:
"Europe needs to come of age. We need to stop complaining about what others are doing to the world, and start thinking for ourselves. We want a can-do foreign policy, where European power is put at the service of European values."

Diego Hidalgo, Presidente of FRIDE, said:
"If Europe with its values, wants to have any influence in the multipolar world of the XXIst century, it needs to speak with one voice. The EFCR is an essential initiative in this context; hence it had my strongest support since it was born as an idea."

George Soros, whose foundations have offered support for the initiative, said:
The European Union embodies the principles of an open society and it ought to serve as a model for a global open society. The EU is used to taking its lead from the United States, reacting to its agenda - sometimes positively, sometimes negatively - and it basically accepts the world order as given. That has to change and it cannot be achieved by individual countries acting on their own."

The launch on 2 October, 2007 will mark the start of a series of debates, conferences and report presentations in different European cities. It will also witness the launch of ECFR's website (www.ecfr.eu), which aims to create a pan-European community of debate and activism in support of a globally-engaged European Union.

ECFR's research will put the spotlight on EU strengths and weaknesses by highlighting the contributions of member states that advance the common European interests, and naming and shaming those EU governments that are underperforming. Its first "power audits" are set to deliver workable ideas on how to increase the EU's leverage on Russia, and on how to maximize the EU's voice within the UN system.

In the coming months, ECFR will also perform an in-depth survey of the EU's current methods of human rights and democracy promotion, propose a pan-European strategy for Afghanistan, and will research the EU's defence policy, its relations with China and other themes.

Its first report, focusing on EU-Russia relations, will be presented in the second half of October. Also in late October, ECFR will publish the findings of a global Gallup survey, covering approx. 2 billion people in over 60 countries, focusing on the actual and desired global influence of a range of international actors, including the EU.

For further information and for interviews with founding members, please contact Zsofia Szilagyi, +44 (0) 20 7031 1623, +44 (0) 78 7677 5034, Email: press@ecfr.eu