Guy Verhofstadt Speaker Profile

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Guy Verhofstadt Member of the European Parliament, 47th Prime Minister of Belgium (1999 - 2008) Guy Verhofstadt is one of Europe's most experienced leaders and is currently the leader of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), the centrist-liberal grouping in the European parliament. He is also the former prime minister of Belgium. Guy argues for reform to the EU so that it focuses much more on the key problems facing both Europe and the world - the economic crisis, crime, the disparity between rich and poor, and other key political issues "One of the architects of the current structure of power in the European Union" In detail Languages Guy Verhofstadt became president of the Flemish Liberal He presents in English, Dutch & French. Student's Union (1972-1974) while studying law in Ghent. He began his political career as a Ghent city councilor in 1976. In Want to know more? 1982, at the age of 29, he became president of the PVV, the Give us a call or send us an e-mail to find out exactly what he Flemish Liberal Party. He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies could bring to your event. - the lower house of Belgian's Federal Parliament - in 1985, and he served as deputy prime minister and minister of budget and How to book him? scientific research until 1988. Prime Minister Verhofstadt led the Simply phone or e-mail us. transformation of the PVV into the VLD, the Flemish Liberals and Democrats, in 1992, and was elected to the Belgian Senate three Publications years later. In this role, he served as rapporteur for the Senate's 2009 commission on the Rwandan genocide. The Financial Crisis - How Europe can Save the World What he offers you 2005 Former Belgian prime minister, Guy Verhofstadt is acknowledged The United States of Europe as a passionate politician, a gifted speaker and a razor-sharp polemicist. He offers audiences tremendous insights into current European issues, the current political landscape and the socio and business scene. How he presents Guy Verhofstadt is a forthright, memorable, powerful and much sought-after speaker at prestigious events worldwide. Topics European Politics The Global Economy A Vision of the Future of Europe Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org).

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How Big Is Belgium's Love Still for Europe? - the Low Countries 29/05/2020 21:18
How Big Is Belgium's Love Still for Europe? - the low countries 29/05/2020 21:18 © Trui Chielens Zero Point 1945 SOCIETY HISTORY How Big Is Belgium's Love Still for Europe? By Ellen Vanderschueren, Jasper Praet, Hendrik Vos translated by Elisabeth Salverda 29/05/2020 ! 11 min reading time After the Second World War, Belgium was one of Europe’s founders. Over the years, Belgian politicians have played a prominent role in European politics. There was always a shared feeling among the population that integration with Europe was useful and in the national interest. In recent times, however, this consensus has been somewhat worn down. n 2009, the first President of the European Council to be appointed was a I Belgian, when Herman Van Rompuy became “President of Europe”. Five years later Donald Tusk, a former prime minister of Poland, took over the helm. And five years after that, in 2019, the role fell to a Belgian once more: Charles Michel fit the jigsaw of nominations and was asked by his colleagues to chair the European Council. Belgians have quite often had a steering role in European politics. Belgium was one of the founders of the European project, and has played a very active role over the years in its process of integration. https://www.the-low-countries.com/article/how-big-is-belgiums-love-still-for-europe Pagina 1 van 15 How Big Is Belgium's Love Still for Europe? - the low countries 29/05/2020 21:18 Herman Van Rompuy and Charles Michel, the first and current President of the European Council Much has changed over the past seventy years: the Community with a focus on coal and steel has grown into a European Union that plays a significant role in almost all economic and political spheres.
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Europe's Two-Faced Authoritarian Right FINAL.Pdf
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ESS9 Appendix A3 Political Parties Ed
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A Dinner with Helmut Schmidt
A Dinner with Helmut Schmidt 1 On 6 February 2010, I organized a remarkable diner with Helmut Schmidt and some influential political leaders in Europe. The animated discussion was an inspiration for us all and was recorded for the records of history. This is the transcript. At the dinner have ave participated: 1. Hemut Schmidt 2. Guy Verhofstadt, MEP, former Prime Minister Belgium 3. Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, MEP, former Prime Minister Denmark 4. Stefan Collignon 5. Christian Paul, Député, Assemblée Nationale, Paris 6. Angelika Schwall-Düren, Member of Bundestag 7. Danuta Huebner, MEP, former European Commissioner 8. Koert Debeuf, Liberal Foundation, Bruxelles Photography by: Peter Cunningham His wisdom and outspokenness will be missed by all Europeans. Stefan Collignon 10. November 2015 2 . After the initial presentations and small talk, the discussion quickly went to the heart of Europe’s problems. Danuta Hübner asked: Do we suffer from lack of leadership? Helmut Schmidt: Actually, the Europeans do lack good leadership, yes, but on the other hand it is more important that we do not see the European edifice blowing up overnight, so to speak. I have known Jean Monnet since 1947-1948, and one of his concepts, at least in those years, was: “Let Europe grow gradually, one step after the other”. So, it took us twenty years from 1952 until the early Seventies to grow from six Members to nine. More than twenty years. And it took us another ten years to grow from nine to twelve. And another decade from twelve to fifteen and then these very intelligent Foreign Secretaries of the European countries let the whole thing explode overnight.
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Letter from Guy Verhofstadt MEP to Seema Malhotra MP
2 7 SEP 201& Member of the European Parliament European Parliament Brexit Coordinator Group of the Alliance of liberals and Democrats for Europe The Chair D 314758 18.09.201 8 Ms Seema Malhotra MP House ofCommons London, SWIA OAA United Kingdom Dear Ms Malhotra, At my hearing before the Exiting the European Union Select Committee on 20 June 2018, you asked me a question on the impact ofBrexit on existing contracts. I promised that Jwould get back to you in writing on this issue. When it comes to ensuring the continuity of contracts concluded before Brexit - such as insurance and OTC derivatives contracts - the assessment made by the EU so far indicates that issues are likely to be linked to a far more limited set ofcontracts than initially feared by some. As regards cross-border insurance contracts, the vast majority are one-off or short term year contracts like travel insurance. For these contracts there are no cliff-edge risks. For the rather limited number of cross-border EU-UK insurance contracts that would still be in place after the UK's withdrawal, they would remain valid and the performance of existing obligations under the contract could generally continue to take place. This would mean that there is as a rule no issue ofcontract continuity. In the case of uncleared OTC derivatives, many of these contracls expire before March 30, 2019. In addition, derivative contracts concluded between UK and EU market participants should in principle remain valid. As analysis from market participants has shown, under the applicable national third country provisions of different Member States the performance of existing obligations under the contract could continue.
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LETTER from the HOME SECRETARY to the EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT BREXIT COORDINATOR Guy Verhofstadt Member of the European Parliament
LETTER FROM THE HOME SECRETARY TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT BREXIT COORDINATOR Guy Verhofstadt Member of the European Parliament European Parliament Brexit Coordinator Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Dear Mr Verhofstadt Thank you for your letter of 30 April and for inviting Home Office officials to present to members of the European Parliament the draft online administrative procedure (Settlement Scheme), which is being developed by the Home Office to allow EU citizens and their family members in the UK to demonstrate in future their rights, as provided for in the Withdrawal Agreement. The UK Government’s key priority, like that of the European Parliament, is to make this process simple and effective for EU citizens. Our default position will be to say ‘yes’ to applications. As you say, we are still developing the system and discussing its design with stakeholders in the UK, as we head towards launch of the Scheme by the end of this year. I therefore welcome views from you and your colleagues, and would like to provide some further information and clarify some of the points you raised in turn. The UK Government is equally committed to the interests of UK nationals living and working in the EU, and we would welcome further details on how the administrative procedures will be enacted in other Member States. It is currently unclear what systems other EU Member States are creating to ensure the rights of UK nationals in their countries are protected after the end of the implementation period and we would welcome it if the European Parliament were also willing to focus attention on Member States’ plans.
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Guy VERHOFSTADT* “More Europe Is the Solution…”
Revista_comunicare_31.qxd 5/26/2014 2:43 PM Page 67 Guy VERHOFSTADT* “More Europe is the solution…” Lectio Prima delivered by Guy Verhofstadt, MEP, Leader of the ALDE Group in the Eu- ropean Parliament, on the occasion of receiving the Doctor Honoris Causa award from the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Bucharest (Romania). The awarding ceremony took place on November 8, 2013, as part of the „European Citizen- ship Week”. This initiative carried out by the NUPSPA comprised a series of events to mark 20 years from the introduction of the European citizenship through the Treaty of Maastricht. Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the Liberals and Democrats, is one of the most influential voic- es in the European Parliament. He is currently running for President of the European Com- mission in the 2014 European elections. Throughout his political career, Verhofstadt has been a keen promoter of reforms within the EU; he has fought for a faster decision-making process and has supported the active consultation and involvement of European citizens in matters regarding the future of the European Union. In his address to the academic community of the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Guy Verhofstadt plainly stated that the EU is currently at a cross- roads and that a decision has to be made with regard to its future. The options available de- fine the role that the EU seeks to play in the globalized world: either the EU becomes more integrated and fit to cope with the new rules of the game or it remains an intergovernmental organization that “continues to think within its borders”.
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Ms Ursula Von Der Leyen, President of the European Commission European Commission Rue De La Loi/Wetstraat 200 1049 Brussels
Ms Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission European Commission Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 200 1049 Brussels Mr Charles Michel, President of the European Council European Commission Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 175 1049 Brussels Brussels, 27 July 2020 Dear President von der Leyen, Dear President Michel, With this letter, we would like to draw your attention to the Polish government’s expressed intent to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention on fighting domestic violence. This latest development shows that we can never take women’s rights for granted. This is disrespectful, a clear violation of women’s rights and unacceptable. The signal the Polish government is sending is a highly troubling one in times that are already challenging for women. Women have been hit disproportionally hard by the Covid-19 crisis and face an increase in cases of domestic violence. The European Union is founded upon shared values that are enshrined in our Treaties, amongst them equality between men and women. We cannot regress on these core values stipulated in Article 2 TEU. We should never accept it when one of our Member States backtracks from equality. That is why we call on you, as the President of the European Commission, guardian of the treaties, and as the President of the European Council, to do everything within your power to discourage the Polish government from taking this misstep. Madam President, in your political guidelines, you made the commitment that the EU’s accession to the Istanbul Convention is a key priority for the Commission and that if the accession remains blocked in the Council, you would consider tabling proposals on minimum standards regarding the definition of certain types of violence, and strengthening the Victims’ Rights Directive.
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