Forum for a self-reliant and self-determined Europe - the "Sovereign Europe Forum"

(Munich, 22 December 2025) The Forum for an Empowered and Self-Determined Europe builds on the Europe Panel's Munich Declaration 2025 (www.munichdeclaration.org), which was presented and published at the Munich Security Conference (MSC) 2025. The next event will also take place on the eve of the Munich Security Conference as an official side event of the MSC in February 2026 at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich. Europe now has the existential task and the capabilities to guarantee its security and values independently as the fourth world power, but to do so it urgently needs to integrate itself even more strongly in terms of defence, economic and political technology.+

"A sovereign Europe is the prerequisite for maintaining peace in freedom and the achievements and values of our European Union and its democratic culture," says family entrepreneur and co-initiator Martin A. Schoeller. "The European principle of peace in freedom is based on the systematic avoidance of abuse of power and the recognition of ALL existing state borders. This is the key to the success of the past 80 years."

In a dialogue between politics, business and experts, the forum aims to contribute to the strategic and operational implementation of sovereignty through concrete proposals for measures.

In addition to the family entrepreneur Martin A. Schoeller and his wife Eva, the founders include the entrepreneur and founder of United Europe, Jürgen Großmann, the European politician Othmar Karas (President of the European Forum Alpbach), the entrepreneur and consultant and Vice President of the European Forum Alpbach, Antonella Mei-Pochtler, the former Managing Director of the ESM, Klaus Regling, and Andreas Treichl, Chairman of the ERSTE Foundation in Austria and founder of Europe Future Initiative. In addition, members of the Board of Trustees are Nikolaus von Bomhard, Munich Re's long-standing Chairman of the Board of Management, Dr. Patrick Adenauer, former President of the Association of Family Entrepreneurs in Germany, André Loesekrug-Pietri, founder of JEDI (Joint European Disruptive Initiative), Günther H. Oettinger, President of United Europe, and Beat Wittmann (Porta Advisors).

The forum emerged from the Europe Panel, which recommended a call for a European Defence Union and an agenda for competitiveness with politicians such as José Manuel Barroso as well as EU Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius and well-known business representatives.

The Munich Declaration 2025 was signed on 13 February 2025 at the "Europe Panel" in the Bayerischer Hof by José Manuel Barroso (former President of the EU Commission), Klaus Regling (former Managing Director of the ESM), André Loesekrug-Pietri (Chairman of JEDI), Othmar Karas (President of the European Forum Alpbach) and Antonella Mei-Pochtler (Vice-President of the European Forum Alpbach), Andreas Treichl (Chairman of the ERSTE Foundation) and Martin A. Schoeller (entrepreneur).

Further information:
https://www.munichdeclaration.org/