Brussels Forum This Weekend, Media Registration Open

~ March 15-17, Agenda Updated, Media Registration Open ~
PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED

The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), with major support from the Federal Authorities of Belgium and Daimler, will host the eight Brussels Forum, an annual high-level meeting of top international political, corporate, and intellectual leaders to address pressing challenges facing both sides of the Atlantic. Participants include senior officials from the European Union institutions and the member states, U.S. government officials, U.S. Congressional representatives, parliamentarians, academics, and private sector representatives.

The conference will take place at the Steigenberger Grandhotel in Brussels, Belgium, from Friday, March 15, to Sunday, March 17.

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS INCLUDE:
Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Vice President, European Commission
Carl Bildt, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sweden
Stephen Carmel, Senior Vice President of Maritime Services, Maersk Line, Limited
Iain Conn, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive, Refining and Marketing, BP
Karel de Gucht, European Commissioner for Trade
Pieter De Crem, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense,
Belgium
Laurent Fabius, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, France
Michael Froman, Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs, National Security Council
Elsa Fornero, Minister of Labour, Social Policies and Equal Opportunities, Italy
Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response
Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, Member, European Parliament
Toomas Hendrik Ilves, President of the Republic of Estonia
Steffen Kampeter, Deputy Finance Minister, Germany
Tatiana Lacerda Prazeres, Secretary of Foreign Trade, Brazil
Stefan Liebich, Member, German Bundestag
Linas Linkevičius, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lithuania
Jawed Ludin, Deputy Foreign Minister, Afghanistan
Nickolay Mladenov, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bulgaria
Igor Morgulov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Russia
Chris Murphy, Senator, United States
Pan Wei, Professor, School of International Studies, Peking University
Farah Pandith, Special Representative to Muslim Communities, U.S. Dept. of State
Carlos Pascual, Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs, U.S. Dept. of State
Minxin Pei, Director, Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies, Claremont McKenna College
Ruprecht Polenz, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, German Bundestag
Olli Rehn, European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs
Edgars Rinkevics, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Latvia
Sima Samar, Chairperson, Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission
Miriam Sapiro, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, Office of the President
Marietje Schaake, Member, European Parliament
General (Ret.) Norton A. Schwartz, Former Chief of Staff, United States Air Force
Wendy Sherman, Under Secretary for Political Affairs, U.S. Dept. of State
Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide, Chairwoman of Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Norwegian Parliament
Herman Van Rompuy, President, Council of the European Union
Alexander Vershbow, Deputy Secretary General, NATO
Wang Yizhou, Associate Dean, School of International Studies, Peking University
Robert B. Zoellick, Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Peter G. Peterson Institute for International Economics

GMF is delighted to be joined in this initiative by its founding partner Daimler. We are also very pleased to welcome as strategic partners BP, the OCP Foundation, the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Latvia, Bank of America and the Government of Montenegro. In addition, we would like to recognize the support of our forum partners the European Union Delegation to the United States, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, the Foundation for European Progressive Studies, the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Liberal Forum, Deloitte, NYSE Euronext, the Brussels Capital Region, and the Centre for European Studies. Finally, we appreciate the backing of our dinner program partners IBM, Eli Lilly and Company, Ford, the Secure World Foundation, European Investment Bank, Facebook, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic. The German Marshall Fund of the United States is pleased to recognize Star Alliance as the official airline network for Brussels Forum.

The Brussels Forum agenda provides a mix of on-the-record public sessions that are open to media coverage as well as private, off-the-record sessions for participants only. The agenda is subject to change without notice. The latest agenda will always be available on the Brussels Forum website.

MEDIA INFORMATION
Members of the press are invited to cover Brussels Forum in the on-site press room, which features a Wi-Fi-enabled workspace, a live, pooled video feed from the public sessions available for recording on-site from host broadcaster Eurovision, and a series of press availabilities (schedule TBD) with speakers after public sessions. Preregistration is mandatory.

This year, individual cameras will be permitted in the plenary room to set up on tripods to film the proceedings unilaterally. Cameras must be in place prior to the session beginning and are not allowed to move around during the proceedings. Also new this year, there will be designated reserved seats available on a first-come, first-served basis for journalists wishing to attend the public sessions.

While individual video and photo cameras are welcome at Brussels Forum for press conferences and interviews, all security restrictions must be obeyed, and if interviews with participants are granted, they are to be conducted at designated standup locations away from trafficked areas near the main plenary room.

Brussels Forum can also be covered virtually via the Brussels Forum website. Video of public sessions will be streamed live and transcripts and video will be posted following each session as soon as they are available. Registration for on-site coverage is required through the Brussels Forum website, and all satellite trucks must be registered in advance by emailing information to [email protected].

BROADCAST INFORMATION 
Eurovision Production Coordination (EPC), the EBU subsidiary in charge of host-broadcasting activities, will produce the live radio and television coverage of all sessions taking place in the plenary room. The signal will be produced with a 16:9 picture ratio. This international signal in SD will be made available as “pool coverage” to participating broadcasters at the press room for recording. Broadcasters must bring their own recording equipment.

Live signal in SD will also be available on the Eurovision Network through the World Feeds distribution tool, please check http://www.eurovision.net/wf/worldfeeds.php for updates.
Please note that EPC is establishing production and transmission facilities in Brussels including:

• Standup positions for live program inserts
• Tape playout (IMX, DVCPRO/MINIDV/DVCAM, XDCAM & P2)
• Connectivity to the Eurovision Global Network

Please send an email to [email protected] for updates and booking

VIDEO NEWS RELEASE PACKAGES
During the proceedings, Brussels Forum will provide video news release packages with conference highlights edited for news content only, free of rights and charge. These packages will be distributed via Eurovision World Feed. Please check http://www.eurovision.net/wf/worldfeeds.php for information. These VNRs will also be available on a web-based distribution platform for broadcaster and webcaster, please visit http://www.eurovision.net/worldlink/front/view/home.php for information.

TWITTER
TheTwitter hashtag for the event will be #brusselsforum, and @gmfus will be tweeting about the conference throughout the weekend.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT POLICY
Brussels Forum requests that its name be mentioned in all reports related to its activities.

• Print/Radio – Any article or interview derived from Brussels Forum should mention Brussels Forum.
• Television – Any program or interview derived from Brussels Forum should mention Brussels Forum or visibly display the Forum's logo. Should you need a logo or backdrop, please contact the pressdesk at the forum or the above contacts.
• Online Publications – Any article or interview related to Brussels Forum should mention Brussels Forum and contain a link to the Brussels Forum website.

Photos – Any photos published from Brussels Forum should mention Brussels Forum.