The Belgo-British Conference is a recurring conference organised by the

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs The Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation (FPS Foreign Affairs) is the foreign affairs ministry of Belgium and is responsible for Belgian foreign policy, relations with the European Union, development ...

, the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreig ...

, the Egmont Institute and the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh la ...

.Belgo-British Conference Programme 2012
/ref> The aim of the conference is to enrich bilateral relations by bringing together politicians, business people, academics, journalists, and other opinion-formers to debate themes of common and crucial importance to Belgium and the United Kingdom.

History

The Belgo-British Conference was first held in 2000, having been an idea discussed by

Belgian Prime Minister german: Premierminister von Belgien , insignia = State Coat of Arms of Belgium.svg , insigniasize = 100px , insigniacaption = Coat of arms , insigniaalt = , flag = Government ...

Guy Verhofstadt Guy Maurice Marie Louise Verhofstadt (; ; born 11 April 1953) is a Belgian politician who was the leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe from 2009 to 2019, and has been a member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Belgium ...

and

British Prime Minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern ...

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of the ...

, when they met for the first time in

Downing Street Downing Street is a street in Westminster in London that houses the official residences and offices of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Situated off Whitehall, it is long, and a few minutes' walk ...

in November 1999. The first edition took place in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Scienc ...

in 2000. The location of the conference would alternate annually between the United Kingdom and Belgium and takes place under the

Chatham House Rule Under the Chatham House Rule, anyone who comes to a meeting is free to use information from the discussion, but is not allowed to reveal who made any particular comment. It is designed to increase openness of discussion. The rule is a system for h ...

. After the fifteenth edition in 2014, the conference was stopped being held until it was reinvigorated in 2022. The Belgo-British Conference is currently chaired by Sir

Robin Niblett Sir Robin Christian Howard Niblett (born 20 August 1961) is a British specialist in international relations. He has been the Director of Chatham House (the Royal Institute of International Affairs) since January 2007. Education and personal lif ...

(Director and Chief Executive of Chatham House) and Ambassador Johan Verbeke (former Belgian Ambassador to the UK), who preside over a board which agrees the theme of the conference. Previous chairs include Sir

Stephen Wall Sir Stephen Wall (born January 1947) is a retired British diplomat who served as Britain's ambassador to Portugal and Permanent Representative to the European Union. Biography Wall, who was educated at Douai School and Selwyn College, Cambri ...

, Ambassador

Lode Willems In geology, a lode is a deposit of metalliferous ore that fills or is embedded in a fissure (or crack) in a rock formation or a vein of ore that is deposited or embedded between layers of rock. The current meaning (ore vein) dates from the ...

André Villeneuve André Villeneuve is a Canadian politician. Villeneuve was elected to represent the riding of Berthier in the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2008 provincial election. He is a member of the Parti Québécois. Villeneuve attended the CEGEP ...

, Count

Georges Jacobs de Hagen Georges, Count Jacobs de Hagen (born 1940) is a leading Belgium, Belgian businessman. Jacobs obtained a Doctor of Philosophy, PhD degree in Law (1962) and a Licentiate (degree), licentiate in economics (1964) from the Universite Catholique de Lou ...

, Baron Paul Buysse and Lord Simon of Highbury.

Editions

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Belgian Embassy to the UKBelgian Federal Public Service Foreign AffairsEgmont InstituteBritish Embassy to BelgiumBritish Foreign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeBritish Council in Brussels
United Kingdom friendship associations International conferences in Belgium International conferences in the United Kingdom Annual events in Europe Belgium–United Kingdom relations