Inspire, Debate, Engage and Accelerate Action (I.D.E.A), formerly known as European Political Strategy Centre (EPSC), is an advisory service of the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

reporting directly to the

President of the European Commission The president of the European Commission, also known as president of the College of Commissioners is the Head of government, head of the European Commission, the Executive (government), executive branch of the European Union (EU). The president ...

and working under her authority. IDEA is composed of a professional staff of advisers, policy analysts and support staff in order to provide ideas and inspiration for the core priorities of the President; debate and engage around new evidence-based policy alternatives in the community of think tanks, research, and other institutions through active outreach; and accelerate the conversion of these ideas and engagements into concrete and bold action to help the EU Commission deliver to its citizens in a fast-changing context. The Centre has a head ranked as a Director General designated by the President.

History

Forward Studies Unit of the European Commission

The origins of what is today known as IDEA go back to 1989, when the Forward Studies Unit was established by the

as a small 'think tank' staffed with EU officials reporting directly to President

Jacques Delors Jacques Lucien Jean Delors (; 20 July 192527 December 2023) was a French politician who served as the eighth president of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995. Delors played a key role in the creation of the single market, the euro and th ...

. The Unit's primary task was to monitor and evaluate European integration by studying long-term prospects and structural tendencies, basing itself particularly on a network of external contacts with research institutes specialised in long-term forecasting and planning.

Members of the Forward Studies Unit of the European Commission

* Marc Luyckx Ghisi *

Guy Spier Guy Spier (; born February 4, 1966) is a Zurich-based Swiss-German-Israeli investor. He is the author of ''The Education of a Value Investor''. Spier is the manager of the Aquamarine Fund with $400 million in assets. He is well known for bidding ...

Maria João Rodrigues Maria João Fernandes Rodrigues GOIH (born 25 September 1955) is a Portuguese academic and politician who served as Minister of Employment in Portugal and was a Member of the European Parliament. She was Vice-President of the Group of the Sociali ...

Group of Policy Advisers (GOPA)

In May 2000,

Romano Prodi Romano Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004 and twice as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1996 to 1998, and again from 2006 to 2008. Prodi is considered the fo ...

changed the Forward Studies Unit into the Group of Policy Advisers (GOPA) and entrusted it with four specific domains: economics, social affairs, foreign affairs, and dialogue with religions.

Bureau of European Policy Advisers (BEPA)

With the arrival of

José Manuel Barroso José Manuel Durão Barroso (; born 23 March 1956) is a Portuguese politician and law professor. He previously served from 2002 to 2004 as the List of Prime Ministers of Portugal, 114th prime minister of Portugal and from 2004–2014 as the 11 ...

as President of the European Commission in 2004, GOPA was restructured and rebranded as the Bureau of European Policy Advisers (BEPA).

European Political Strategy Centre (EPSC)

With the arrival of

Jean-Claude Juncker Jean-Claude Juncker (; born 9 December 1954) is a Luxembourgish politician who was List of prime ministers of Luxembourg, prime minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013 and president of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019. He also was List ...

as President of the European Commission in 2014, BEPA was restructured and rebranded as European Political Strategy Centre (EPSC).

References

External links

I.D.E.A. Inspire, Debate, Engage and Accelerate Action
European Commission {{EU-stub