Paris, 13 February 2023
General Meeting of 13 February 2023
The Chairman, Jean-Paul Doguet, opened the meeting by reading out the agenda and presenting the moral report to the General Meeting, followed by the draft 2022 programme.
MORAL REPORT FOR 2022
On 13 February 2023 at 5.30 pm, the members of the EUROCAPITALES PARIS-ILE DE FRANCE association met at the restaurant Le Standard, 1 bd du Montparnasse, 75006 Paris, for an Ordinary General Meeting.
The Chairman, Jean-Paul Doguet, opened the meeting and presented the annual report for 2022, followed by the draft programme for 2023.
The year 2022 began with our Annual General Meeting on Monday 14 February 2022 at La Parenthèse, followed by dinner in the same restaurant. The meeting was an opportunity for us to renew our Board, which now officially includes Maria-Luise FESER, who had only replaced the late Isabelle de SERRE following her death the previous year. The Chairman gave a report on the Association's activities and finances.
The past year was marked (and this is clearly good news for the association) by the lifting of restrictions on Covid. We were able to continue our monthly face-to-face meetings, followed in some cases by a Café Paris Europe, and from April we were able to return to our old base, now called Le Standard. They took place on 21 March (at Café Montparnasse), 25 April, 23 May, 27 June, 19 September, 17 October, 21 November, 12 December and 16 January 2023. Several contributions followed: on 25 April, Jean-Paul DOGUET spoke about the EU's Taiwan policy. On 23 May, Olga IMBERT presented the European Medicines Agency. On 17 October, Jean-Pierre Morizot and Christian Lefeuvre spoke about the Czech Republic, where they had recently visited, and on 21 November Alexandra CLAVER-FEEKES spoke about the new CAP. On 12 December, Jean-Claude HOUDOIN devoted the Café Paris Europe to EU economic forecasts. On 16 January, Jean-Paul DOGUET spoke about Estonia (where he recently travelled) and the EU.
In keeping with a well-established tradition, we also organised our annual Eurocapitales party on Sunday 26 June in Gas at Jean-Paul DOGUET's home, a well-established convivial event.
This year we innovated by organising our 22nd Multilateral on Saturday 1 October 2022 in the form of a webinar in English on the war in Ukraine. It lasted an hour and a half and was the responsibility of the Finns. It was the result of a proposal from me, given the imponderables, at a time when freedom of movement has been re-established in Europe. The experiment was a success, despite the limited number of participants (22), partly due to a lack of information from the Finns. There were therefore two welcome speeches, the first from Ilari RANTAKARI of ME Finland and Jean-Paul DOGUET of Eurocapitales Paris. We then heard three successive contributions, from Jacques FAURE, Honorary Ambassador in Kiev, on the theme: "The Russian war in Ukraine: what new European order?", then from Markku KIVINEN, Emeritus Professor at the Aleksanteri Institute, on the question "The Russian framework for foreign and security policy" and Esapekka VEHKAOJA, Director of the Finnish Military Intelligence Agency, who spoke on the question "The war in Ukraine - a military perspective to put an end to aggression".
The webinar proved to be a success and we decided to repeat the experience, as it is a very inexpensive formula that allows us to extend the number of our participants and speakers, who would not otherwise come to a meeting. Of course, this in no way replaces a 'real' multilateral meeting, which is why we have decided to hold both events. The Eurocapitales webinar would be a new type of event in our activities, devoted to a topical issue, whereas the themes addressed in the multilateral will be more structural, less dependent on the event.
The story of the creation of Eurocapitales International continued this year too. The articles of association for the international federation were filed with the prefecture by Marliese FESER on the last day, but it turned out that in fact it was simply an association, duplicating Eurocapitales Paris. However, on closer examination, this is not absolutely embarrassing, and if it turns out that a rectification is impossible, we will maintain this status, with the possibility of other associations joining, as is already the case for the European Movement Paris, which had given its agreement.
DRAFT 2023 PROGRAMME
Many things are about to change in 2023. First of all, we have to reckon with a limited transformation of our statutes and our role, given that the CLIF is being reactivated after having fallen into a state of dormancy in previous years under the chairmanship of Yves Bertoncini. I attended the first meeting on Friday 3 February of this re-formed CLIF, which does not yet have a dedicated manager. This implies a strengthening of our links with MEF Paris as well, since it is now in theory a member of Eurocapitales International. Whatever will be the precise status of Eurocapitales International, it will be totally optional and there is no need for our members in the Paris region to join, except for those who will have responsibilities there. On the other hand, it will be useful and necessary for our foreign partners to do so, which we will present to them at the next multilateral meeting in September, which will take place in person on Saturday 16 September. The membership fee could be the same as for Eurocapitales Paris.
This brings me to our two forthcoming events: a webinar, which is struggling to take shape, to be held on Saturday 22 April from 2 to 3.30 pm on the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO. Ideally, a Frenchman, a Swede and a Finn would take part. In Helsinki, they have more than enough to find one or two speakers. The chosen theme would therefore be "The consequences of Sweden and Finland joining NATO".
In addition, our 23rd Multilateral will take place in September at the Hôtel de l'Industrie, all day on Saturday 16th, with two selected themes: The future of European museums and Enlargement to the East. We are in the process of putting together speakers for each of the half-days. But in any case, we will have to devote at least one hour to the presentation of Eurocapitales International. So we will have to replace the traditional steering committee meeting with a real session for everyone, which will be devoted to this on the Saturday and which will enable us to present the project to everyone.
Dear friends, Eurocapitales is alive and not just surviving, and so much the better. Eurocapitales International will enable us to guarantee the continuity of the network even if one or other partner disappears or voluntarily moves away. It is in this sense that it is also important for Eurocapitales Paris, even if it is a legal duplicate. I very much hope to continue this adventure with all the members interested in the formation of a European civil society, which is, let's not forget, the raison d'être of our network.
VOTE TO RENEW/REAPPOINT THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
The members of the Executive Committee were re-elected with the exception of Alexandra Claver-Feekes, Deputy General Secretary, who did not wish to stand for re-election. In the absence of a new candidate, the post of deputy general secretary remains vacant.
The new executive committee is composed of:
- Jean-Paul Doguet, Chairman,
- Olga Imbert, Vice-President,
- Jean-Pierre Morizot, Second Vice-Chairman,
- Maria-Luise Feser, General Secretary,
- Cécile Houdoin, Treasurer.
Following a vote on the changes to the Executive Committee and approval of the annual and financial reports, the Chairman adjourned the meeting.
