Things are moving at an increasing pace. The tasks are not getting any smaller. However the commitment to democratic cohesion in Europe is worth it! Only one more year and we have again the choice for a Europe in freedom and democracy. On 3 July, our highest body, the EM Germany General Assembly in Berlin, will set the framework for 2023/24. After nine years of board work in EM Germany – five of them serving as vice president – this will unfortunately be my last meeting as a representative of the network. Since March 2022, I have been working as a special envoy of the German government for the countries of the Western Balkans. This career change is also the right time for me to hand over the baton on the Board. I am therefore pleased that my esteemed fellow party member in the Greens Barbara Lochbihler is running for EM Germany Vice-Presidency and has already been proposed by the Board for election at the General Assembly.

Since 2015, we have driven and shaped the politicisation of EM Germany: In times when the EU was at a crossroads several times due to the asylum crisis in 2015, Brexit, border closures around Covid-19 and the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, we were able to expand the membership to about 250 organisations today and give ourselves a clearer political demands. As a particular progress, I see that since 2020 we have been able to further internationalise EM Germany through the European Public Diplomacy concept and have integrated the expertise of our member organisations represented in the Western Balkans and Turkey on issues related to EU enlargement.

With the new line-up in the Presidium and the sharpened political demands for 2023/24, I am sure that EM Germany will continue to be a strong voice for the European elections and wish good luck.

Yours,

Manuel Sarrazin

EM Germany Vice President

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EM Germany News

EBD Exclusive Brussels looks ahead to 2024 | On 15 June 2023, Secretary General Bernd Hüttemann and Freya Lemcke, EBD Board Member and Head of the Representation of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) to the EU, invited to the EBD Exclusive Brussels. The focus was on the upcoming European elections in 2024 and plans for the election campaign were discussed with multipliers from the member organisations. | More (in German)

Strengthening the European dialogue between Germany and Turkey | In the series of events on the 2023 election in Turkey, EM Germany Secretary General Bernd Hüttemann discussed with guests about the significance of the election results for democracy and human rights and for the European member states. At the start Bernd Hüttemann had a frank and critical background discussion with the Turkey-EU Civil Society Dialogue Network consisting of representatives of the EU candidate country and the Turkish Foreign Ministry about the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the difficult cooperation between non-governmental organisations and the EU. At the subsequent EBD Public Diplomacy Dialogue Turkey, experts discussed the relations between the discussed EU-Turkey relations and the lessons learned from the presidential elections. The challenge is to find a constructive approach for restructuring the partnership relations with Turkey. In Istanbul Hüttemann and Dr. Funda Tekin from the Institute for European Politics, representatives of the German media and the foreign offices or foreign representations of the EM Germany members. In an informal background discussion, they analysed the results of the Turkish run-off election for the presidency, with a focus on the the division of society and human rights as decisive factors for future factors for Turkey’s future rapprochement with the EU were mentioned. | More (in German)

Interview with the President of the EM Germany | At the WDR Europaforum on the topic „At the sitetable of world politics? Europe’s role after the „turning point“, EM Germany President Dr. Linn Selle was a guest and discussed the geopolitical challenges for Europe after the war of aggression against the Ukraine and the importance of Europe on the political world stage in a panel talk together with other guests from international politics. In doing so, she emphasised that the link between Europe’s ability to act and Europe’s credibility on the global stage. In the subsequent conversation with Bremen Zwei, she also emphasised the need for European answers to the current global challenges. | More (in German)

Meeting of the EM Germany Board | At the regular meeting of the EM Germany Board, the focus was on the topics of the European elections 2024, a review of the fourth summit of the heads of state and government of the Council of Europe and the preparation of the content of the upcoming General Assembly in July. As guests, the EBD was pleased to welcome the new Head of Staff for European Policy and Strategic Priorities of the EU at the Federal Foreign Office, Dr. Jens-Christian Gaedtke, and the Vice-President of the European Movement International (EMI), Tobias Köck. EM Germany President Dr. Linn Selle and EM Germany Secretary General Bernd Hüttemann presented the EM Germany policy, work priorities and priorities developed in the consultation process and discussed necessary responses to current European challenges with the members present. | More (in German)

EBD Briefing on Latvia’s Chairmanship of the Council of Europe | The EBD’s formats bring together high-level guests to discuss how policies and networks can help strengthen the EU and Europe in the face of the Russian attack on the European community of values. Dr. Linn Selle emphasised this in her welcome address. In the EBD briefing, the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Latvia, Dr. Inese Lībiņa-Egnere, presented the work programme of the Latvian Chairmanship, which focuses on strengthening the institution to promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and the fight against disinformation. Dr. Anna Lührmann MdB, Minister of State for Climate and Europe at the Federal Foreign Office, gave an assessment of the programme from the perspective of the German Federal Government. | More (in German)

Upcoming Events

03.07.2023 | EM Germany General Meeting: one year before the 2024 European elections and our 75th anniversary, the 2023 General Assembly will take place on 3 July. We will also bid farewell to our long-time Vice-President Manuel Sarrazin, Special Representative of the German Federal Government for the Western Balkans at the Federal Foreign Office. At the suggestion of the EM Germany Board, Barbara Lochbihler, politician from Bündnis 90/Die Grünen and former member of the EU Parliament, is standing for election as his successor. We would also like to welcome the following guests to the dbb Forum: Wolfgang Schmidt, Head of the Federal Chancellery and Federal Minister for Special Tasks, Katarina Barley MEP, Vice-President of the EU Parliament (SPD), Gunther Krichbaum, Spokesman for European Policy of the CDU/CSU Group (CDU) and Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, designated top candidate for the European elections (FDP). We also welcome Hervé Moritz, President of the European Movement France.

12.07.2023 | EM Germany Briefing on the Spanish Council Presidency with H.E. Ricardo Martínez Vázquez, Spanish Ambassador in Germany, Sibylle Katharina Sorg, Head of the European Department at the Federal Foreign Office, Dr. Kirsten Scholl, Head of the Department for European Affairs at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, Dr. Linn Selle, President of the European Movement Germany and EM Germany Board Member Dr. Jana Puglierin.

More information

Our Presidency Calendar on the Swedish EU Council Presidency contains all dates of the semester.

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