L’Option n°28, published in November 2009, in French and in English.

The idea was to clarify positions on the need (or not) for a new political impetus to promote nuclear energy within the European Union and make the EU the world leader in safe, sustainable nuclear industrial policy, through informal, “off the record” discussion. At a time when nuclear energy is enjoying a revival in so many countries, should the European Union not become a key actor in ensuring the world’s safety? This role cannot be left to the operators, or even to individual states. The Single Market requires regulation and we must contribute to comprehensive regulation on a global scale – but our primary responsibility is European.

Our lunch-debate concept was both useful and productive: the 95 participants discussed their opinions without holding back on many issues: the future of nuclear power, its economic and ecological effects, its social acceptability, the safety and management of waste, international cooperation and non-proliferation, our relations with Russia, the initiatives taken by the European Commission, and more. As these pages make clear, nobody, not even corporate managers, attempted narrow lobbying for nuclear energy. All those present gave serious thought to the best conditions for the industry’s revival, took their responsibilities seriously and attempted to reconcile the three dimensions of Europe’s energy policy – competitiveness, security and climate – with the issues of safety and non-proliferation. This strikes at the importance of this discussion – and its difficulties – because nobody can deny that these contradictions exist.

L’Option n°27, published in November 2009, in French and in English.

Anyone reading this brochure might think that there is something odd about discussing demography, vocational training and immigration when there is a major crisis going on, and talking about a skills shortage when unemployment is not only climbing fast, but is also affecting well-trained and highlyqualified people for the first time in ages.
The recovery is likely to be slow. Nonetheless, there is no harm in thinking about what we can do now – while national governments are rethinking their political choices and Europe is defining a new road map – to ensure that the economic rebound is as strong as possible and that everyone benefits from it.
The European Economic Discussions (Entretiens Economiques Européens) organised by Confrontations Europe in 2009 focused on “The transformation of capitalism in Europe”, and highlighted three major challenges: long-term financing, the climate and the social issues.
We firmly believe that social investment, centred on training and employment, is a condition for renewed and more sustainable growth. How can we raise our employment rate and increase our productivity, and at the same time make a success of sustainable development and social inclusion? This is a difficult challenge in a context of ageing populations…

Option n°26 - published in April 2009.

The nuclear revival is a fact, in Europe and the rest of the world. We are delighted at this. Today, all eyes are on the United Kingdom where the Government intends to do more than merely replace twenty-three aging power plants. The challenge facing them is considerable – Mr. Hutton, Britain’s Minister for Trade and Industry, estimates that the work will generate 100,000 jobs. It is to be hoped that the soon-to-end Franco-British summit meeting will have strengthened understanding between the two countries. This would augur well for the French Presidency of the European Union which hopes to launch debate on a common energy policy within the European Council. Since the United Kingdom took the decision to relaunch the construction of nuclear reactors, France is no longer alone; it has a new ally in the nuclear debate. The British decision is also seen as encouraging by all the companies that wish to develop nuclear technology. This development is not only manifest in the United Kingdom; in Germany and a number of countries in Central and Eastern Europe, there is an obvious, if latent, desire to enter this sector.

L’Option n°22, published in October 2005, in French and in English. Proceedings of the Conference held on October 6 – 7, 2005, Sarajevo.

In 1995, the Dayton-Paris agreements put an end to the bloody war that torn apart Bosnia-and-Herzegovina and its people. Teh years later, Bosnia-and-Herzegovina is rebuilt and turns a new page of its history by opening, with Brussels, negociations for the signature of a Stabilisation and Association Agreement : first step toward EU's accession. But, although it has benefited from a massive international aid, it has difficulties to overcome its internal divisions and have its economy take off. The credibility of the European project and EU's responsability towards Bosnia-and-Herzegovina's future are engaged : should not we revise the terms of our relations to Bosnia-and-Herzegovina ?
By organizing a conference "Dialog and partnerships to meet Bosnia-and-Herzegovina's development challenge" on 6 and 7 October 2005 in Sarajevo, Confrontations Europe has started up a dialog among French, Bosnians and European institutions. These pages offer a synthesis of these debates and proposals for the future.
A mobilization of all actors is necessary in order to help Bosnians rebuild their common identity and create cooperations on development projects.

L'Option n°21, published in May 2005.

More than 400 stakeholders from all over Europe, active in the economic and social fields, participated in a European industrial dialogue, at a symposium organised by Confrontations Europe and the Alpha Group, sponsored by the European Commission, the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Robert Schuman Foundation, on 17 and 18 February 2005 at the European Parliament in Brussels.
The debates reported here showed a strong need for a European industrial policy in the international division of labour. This led to a consensus over the risks of de-industrialisation and an ambition for industrial innovation. Whilst there is divergence over responsibility-sharing, it seems essential that public policies complement company stratégies. Eastern European actors also strongly expressed the need for co-operations, training courses and investment to develop the opportunities of new Member States, ti the benefit of the whole Europe.
These proceedings reflect the emergence of dialogue and participation, which are the two requisites to anticipate change and to take up the European industrial challenge.