Sovereign Europe Forum: Launch Event at MSC 2026 in Munich

Munich, February 2026. Preparations are in full swing: In the immediate vicinity of the former Grohnde nuclear power plant in Lower Saxony, one of the largest electricity storage facilities in Germany is set to be built by 2028.

At the turn of the year 2025/2026, entrepreneurs, top executives and leading figures from the organizations United Europe and the European Forum Alpbach (EFA) founded the Sovereign Europe Forum (SEF). “A sovereign Europe is a prerequisite for preserving peace in freedom and safeguarding the achievements and values of our European Union and its democratic culture,” says co-initiator Martin Schoeller.

The Forum aims to strengthen dialogue between policymakers, business leaders and experts in order to develop concrete proposals for the strategic and operational implementation of European sovereignty. In doing so, the initiative builds on the Munich Declaration 2025, which was presented and published on the occasion of the Munich Security Conference (MSC) last year.

The SEF launch event took place on 12 February 2026, once again on the eve of the Security Conference, as an official side event at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich. Under the title “How to Accelerate a European Defence Union,” the Forum presented several recommendations, including the transfer of command over European NATO units to the European NATO member states.

In addition to Martin Schoeller, panelists included former President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso, EFA Vice President Antonella Mei-Pochtler, and Klaus Regling, the long-serving head of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).

Further information on the Sovereign Europe Forum can be found here:
https://sovereign-europe-forum.org/

About Us

The Sovereign Europe Forum (SEF) promotes dialogue between policymakers, business leaders and experts in order to develop concrete and actionable recommendations and to make an effective contribution to the strategic and operational implementation of European sovereignty.

The Forum was founded in December 2025 by leading figures from politics and business. It works closely with the organizations United Europe e.V. and the European Forum Alpbach (EFA). The SEF Executive Board consists of EFA Vice President Antonella Mei-Pochtler, Andreas Treichl (Chairman of ERSTE Foundation Austria), and the family entrepreneurs Patrick Adenauer and Martin Schoeller.

The other founders are José Manuel Durão Barroso (former President of the European Commission), Jürgen Großmann (entrepreneur and founder of United Europe), Klaus Regling (former Managing Director of the European Stability Mechanism, ESM), and Beat Wittmann (Co-founder and Chairman of Porta Advisors).