“Recharge Europe”: Forum Alpbach will give Europe an energy boost
Vienna/Alpbach – In about two weeks, the European Forum Alpbach (EFA) will begin, celebrating its 80th anniversary under the motto “Recharge Europe,” aiming to give the continent a boost of energy. The central thematic focuses of the conference, which takes place from August 16 to 29, have been identified in advance as “Security Union, Energy Union, and Capital Market Union.” This year, many high-ranking participants from politics, business, and science are also expected.
Europe stands “at a crossroads” eighty years after the end of World War II, according to the EFA homepage. “The values that shaped post-war Europe – democracy, human rights, the rule of law, and social market economy – are being put to the test in an age of technological change, geopolitical shifts, and an existential ecological crisis. Europe needs a boost of energy, as the global competition for influence, resources, and innovation is becoming increasingly intense.” However, Europe’s response must “be able to do much more than defend past achievements: Europe must energetically drive forward an ambitious vision for the future.”
The founders of the forum drove a “shared vision for a comprehensive renewal of Europe” 80 years ago. “Their approach is just as important today as it was then. To ensure sustainable peace and prosperity, Europe must continually reinvent itself – based on values that go beyond economic measures.”
“New quality of result orientation”
This year, the forum aims for a “new quality of result orientation,” as its new president Othmar Karas stated in May during the program presentation in Vienna. Tradition is “not an end in itself,” and history is only useful “if we use it to shape the future.” Therefore, the forum in 2025 aims to become “even more concrete,” “even more focused,” and “even more effective.”
“Our goal is clear: Alpbach should not only be a place of dialogue but also a place of concrete answers,” emphasized the former Vice President of the EU Parliament. “We are bringing more top decision-makers back to Alpbach, from politics, business, and science. We will become more European and international – initially with a focus on Germany and Brussels. And we will pose concrete questions with the aim of developing concrete answers.”
High-ranking guests from politics, business, and science
Among the Austrian political elite, Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen, Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker (ÖVP), Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger (NEOS), and European Minister Claudia Plakolm (ÖVP) will participate, each bringing one or more state guests to Alpbach, as Karas explained this week in an interview with APA. So far, confirmed attendees include Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, the foreign ministers of the Czech Republic and Romania, Jan Lipavský and Emil Hurezeanu, and Hungarian European Minister János Bóka. The Austrian federal government will be very broadly represented – also by Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler (SPÖ) and numerous other ministers. Additionally, many state secretaries are expected.
Several EU commissioners, such as Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner, Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall, and the Commissioner for Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union, Maria Luis Albuquerque, will also participate in the forum. From the EU Parliament, Vice President Katarina Barley and the Chair of the Security and Defense Committee (SEDE), Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, have also been announced. Former EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has already confirmed his attendance, according to Karas.
Moreover, business representatives such as Erste Group CEO Peter Bosek and Axel van Trotsenburg, Managing Director of the World Bank, will be attending. From the scientific community, climate economist Sigrid Stagl, US Nobel Prize winner in Economics Joseph E. Stiglitz, and French mathematician and Fields Medal winner Cédric Villani are expected. Josef Aschbacher, Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA), will participate in an event on “Europe’s critical capabilities.”
More than 4,000 participants in total
Overall, the organizers expect more than 4,000 participants. The program is divided into five modules: the “Euregio Days” (August 16-19) focusing on global challenges from the perspective of the Euregio Tirol-Südtirol-Trentino, the “Seminar Days” (August 17-22), the “Lab Days” (August 21-23), the “Europe in the World Days” (August 23-26) with debates on Europe’s role in the global context, and the “Austria in Europe Days” (August 26-29) focusing on the role of EU member states in Europe.
(Editorial notes: SERVICE: The continuously updated program of the Alpbach Forum can be accessed at https://www.alpbach.org/de/event-de/programm.) (August 4, 2025)
