About ILS
Welcome to the Sixth Annual International Leaders Summit
December 8-9, 2009
The European Parliament, Brussels
On behalf of the organizers of the sixth annual International Leaders Summit (ILS), our co-host The European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) and dedicated partners, we extend to each one of you –a special welcome to this year’s summit event in the European Parliament. A group of reformers and proponents of economic freedom gathered at the inaugural ILS in southeast Europe on November 5, 2004. We believed in creating a unique platform to address key economic and security challenges and focus on articulating principled solutions to public policy issues.
One such principled reformer that spoke at the inaugural ILS, then Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Slovakia - Ivan Miklos shared about his nation’s bold reform initiatives – the flat tax and several key reform initiatives that made the labor market more flexible and reformed social security and health care. Slovakia – a nation that was once known as a laggard in the region transformed into a pioneer of reforms and deservingly received recognition from the World Bank as the best reformer in 2004!
The unique platform of the ILS features world renowned and respected economic reformers, proponents of economic freedom and stalwarts advocating a strengthened rule of law and protection of property rights. And, over the past few years, summit events and strategic - economic and security roundtables have been hosted in Belgrade, Brussels, Ljubljana, Prague, Warsaw, Washington, DC, and Zagreb.
This is a strategic transatlantic gathering, a collaborative endeavor of leading independent think tanks that include the Adriatic Institute for Public Policy, The Heritage Foundation, Open Europe and the Atlas Economic Research Foundation.
We would like to convey our deep appreciation to prominent conservative MEPs including the ECR Chairman Michal Kamiński , ECR Vice- Chairman Jan Zahradil (MEP, Czech Republic) and ECR Bureau member Geoffrey Van Orden (MEP, UK) for their important leadership and partnership. These leaders and their dedicated advisors have worked diligently in organizing this event. A special thanks is conveyed to Ms. Hannah Richards, political advisor to Mr. Van Orden and her trusted colleagues who provided important assistance to this endeavor.
When we met in this city last year, a few short weeks after the financial crisis erupted, US Ambassador C. Boyden Gray, Special Envoy for European Union Affairs delivered a keynote address at the fifth annual ILS reminding us of a few reasons for the expected upheaval – greater state intervention and concerted efforts to undermine liberty and free markets.
Today, a prevalent notion in the halls of powers and in certain quarters on both sides of the Atlantic is to fault capitalism for the crisis and give credence to allow governments to solve economic problems with even greater state intervention. Inevitably, this will be a dangerous path.
More than ever before, the ideas of public sector reforms, accountability and transparency of government institutions and wider market reforms cannot remain as mere deliberations on the fringes. The financial crisis and its consequences call for a robust debate of these issues and the advancement of the principles of limited government.
The Nobel laureate in economics and author of the classic published work The Road to Serfdom, Dr. Friedrich A. Hayek said, “The economic freedom which is the prerequisite of any other freedom cannot be the freedom from economic care which the socialists promise us and which can be obtained only by relieving the individual at the same time of the necessity and the power of choice: it must be the freedom of economic activity which, with the right of choice, inevitably also carries the risk and the responsibility of that right.”
Dr. Milton Friedman, a distinguished Nobel prize winner in economics, wisely conveyed in his book Capitalism and Freedom a well defined statement of his economic philosophy – that competitive capitalism serves as both a device for achieving economic freedom and a necessary condition for political freedom.
Dr. Friedman further states, in this compelling book Capitalism and Freedom, “Political freedom means the absence of coercion of a man by his fellow men. The fundamental threat to freedom is power to coerce, be it in the hands of a monarch, a dictator, an oligarchy, or a momentary majority. The preservation of freedom requires the elimination of such concentration of power to the fullest possible extent and the dispersal and distribution of whatever power cannot be eliminated — a system of checks and balances.”
Never has our certitude of the rightness of that work been as strong as it is now. It is our firm belief that convening this year’s summit - through a strategic partnership with the European Conservatives and Reformists at a time when liberty, competitive capitalism, free markets and free trade are questioned and attacked - is both timely and relevant. And, now through an expanding strategic partnership with stalwart think tanks and principled leaders from the broad cross-section of society, we hope to strengthen the vital synergy effect.
The uniqueness of the ILS endeavor is not to dwell on the difficulties and pitfalls but to provide an important platform for reformers and proponents of principled change to present the competition of ideas with an approach that highlights principled solutions to economic, security and social challenges.
The organizers and partners look forward to an engaged dialog, debate and presentation of the competition of ideas in improving and strengthening transatlantic relations. We welcome your individual participation in this event and look forward to working with each one you in promoting the significance of the rule of law, advancing economic freedom and strengthening national defenses that lead to improved security and higher rates of economic growth.
Sincerely yours,
Natasha Srdoc, MBA
Joel Anand Samy
Co-Founders
International Leaders Summit
www.ils-wde.org