The European Mercator Fund initiated the Raymond Georis Prize for Innovative Philanthropy in Europe for two reasons: Firstly, to reward an individual, foundation or project which has conceived and implemented an outstanding, innovative and high impact philanthropic programme in Europe, and secondly to pay tribute to the remarkable contribution that Raymond Georis has made to the foundation sector in Europe.

This is particularly apt this year as Mr Georis is stepping down from his responsibilities as Managing Director of the Network of European Foundations this summer, and this will mark the rounding off of his brilliant and significant career in the philanthropic sector in Europe.

As a man of vision and intuition, Mr Georis is widely and justifiably recognised as the “father” of the European Foundation community.

After studying Law and Philosophy at the University of Louvain, he obtained a diploma in Economics and Political Science from the College of Europe in Bruges. He has been involved in the work and the philosophy of the College of Europe since this time.

Following this, his career has evolved around two basic principles: His strong belief in the importance of Europe and European values, and his love of humanity, and commitment to helping others in their development.

He was an early believer in Europe as a unified economic, cultural and political force, when the EU as we know it today was still in the early stages of creation.

After a period of collaboration with UNESCO in New Delhi, where he was a Professor in economics at the Asian Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (and where more importantly, he married his wife Elizabeth), Mr Georis came back to Europe, where his career has since been firmly based.

This moment really marks the beginning of his conviction of Europe’s role as an international force, and his active involvement in the promotion of European values. Mr Georis’s commitment to the future and security of a peaceful Europe dates back to his experience during his childhood during the war, when his village was occupied.

As part of the post war generation who saw the necessity for action, each within their own fields, Mr Georis rose to the challenge of his epoch by dedicating his professional life to the future and the security of Europe through his work in the philanthropic sector.

The first important role in the construction of post-war Europe that Mr Georis played was from 1967 to 1972, as Director of the “Project Education: Plan Europe 2000”, for the European Cultural Foundation. Mr Georis went on to be Secretary General of the European Cultural Foundation for 22 years.

Here we see Mr Georis in Jerusalem in 1974, where he went as Secretary General of the European Cultural Foundation. Mr Georis still has a strong interest in the Middle East, having recently returned from a trip to Palestine, where he was working on European efforts to promote peace and reconciliation in the region.

In 1977, Mr Georis’s analysis and intuition had convinced him that the way forward for the European Foundation community was to join forces in order to strengthen the impact and capacities of the foundation sector.

He conceived and created the European Cooperation Fund, which later developed into the Association for Innovative Cooperation in Europe and paved the way for the creation of the Network of European Foundations as we know it today.

It was during this time that Mr Georis again demonstrated his remarkable flair and entrepreneurial initiative. Because of his leadership and European engagement, the European Commission entrusted the European Cultural Foundation with the running of the Erasmus programme – EU’s flagship programme in building inter-community cooperation and student mobility.

His successful steering of this programme later lead to the European Cultural Foundation, under his leadership, being invited to assist the European Commission with the TEMPUS scheme, which has proved to be an important catalyst for higher education reform and cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe.

Here we see Mr Georis in 1987 with Alexander King at the Award Ceremony of the Erasmus Prize.

Here we see him in 1989 in Leningrad at a conference for cultural exchange, another fine example of Mr Georis’s involvement in building bridges with Central and Eastern Europe. The conference was one of the first of many major joint conferences.

Also in 1989, Mr Georis, once again showing his visionary flair, was at the helm of the initiative to create the European Foundation Centre, and there is no doubt that his constant support for, and encouragement to the Centre, was vital in helping to build the architecture of European cooperation between foundations that we know today.

I would like to pay special tribute, on behalf of his many friends here today from the foundation world who have valued his unflagging energy, his enthusiasm and advice, and most especially the warmth of his friendship.

Here he is with John Richardson at one of the first European Foundation Centre’s conferences.

In 1995, Mr Georis’s contribution to the European Foundation community was honoured, when at his farewell party from the European Cultural Foundation, he received an award for his commitment to European values.

Here we see him with the Princess Margriet and the Belgian ambassador, Jan Willems.

Here we see Mr Georis in 1999 with Jacques Delors for the 50th Anniversary of the College of Europe.

And here again with King Albert II, when he was received at the Hague Club of European Foundations in 1995, of which Mr Georis was Chair from 1983-1985, and of which he is still a valued member.

More recently, we see him here in 2003 with Javier Solana, with whom he works closely, as Treasurer of the Madariaga European Foundation, the foundation of which High Representative Solana is President.

As you all know, Mr Georis’s current role in the European Foundation community is that of Managing Director of the Network of European Foundations for Innovative Cooperation (NEF).

During his time as managing Director of NEF, he has done much to fulfil his initial goals, of creating a flexible platform for joint ventures between foundations in Europe, thus enabling interested foundations to identify common aims and to join forces to attain higher goals and achieve greater impact.

NEF has also initiated events such as the European Foundation Summit.

I would like to single out especially the Youth Empowerment Partnership Programme (YEPP), to which Mr Georis is passionately committed. It has already proved to be an excellent example of public/private partnership building – the type of model initiative which Mr Georis conceived could be promoted through the NEF framework.

In this slide we see Mr Georis with Pat Cox, President of the European Parliament in February of this year at the Award Ceremony of the “Europe Prize” for excellence in journalistic reporting, an event organised by the European Mercator Fund, of which Mr Georis is a member of the Steering Committee.

He has made an important contribution to the work of the Mercator Fund – which works on building a new global consensus on drug policy, promoting and strengthening the international rule of law, and will organise in 2005, the first Global Foundation Summit.

But Mr Georis’s life has of course not just been about his career.

He is very dedicated to his family - his wife, Elizabeth, his four children and three Grandchildren, of whom he is especially fond.

At home he greatly enjoys his garden, and also very much appreciates good food, good wine and good company and is a connoisseur of many of Europe’s finest restaurants. He speaks numerous languages and is endlessly exploring and studying the development and evolution of European languages.

Mr Georis has a wonderful gift for friendship and has helped in many ways, many of the individuals with whom he has collaborated during his distinguished career.

He has numerous close friendships within the foundation community, as I’m sure many of you here today will willingly testify - and has boundless energy for work on philanthropic projects.

Here we see him with Carlos Monjardino from Fundacao Oriente (one of his many close friends from the sector,) having received the medal which was awarded to the founding members of the European Foundation Centre.

Mr Georis’s professional work takes on a whole new dimension now that we see he is retiring from NEF at a moment when the European “family of Nations” has been reunited, with the recent admission of the new members to the European Union.

On the eve of Mr Georis’s departure from NEF, it is our role and our responsibility, as the generation who have inherited his and other’s pioneering achievements, to build on the solid base he has laid to tackle the new challenges Europe faces both internally and externally.

We must strive to do our best, in our roles in the philanthropic sector, to continue in Raymond’s footsteps, towards the vision of European and global peace and security.

I have tried to pay tribute to Mr Georis’s remarkable career with this short presentation.

It was not an easy task, as it is a career so filled with initiative, energy and a resolute belief in working towards a better Europe and a better world, that it is difficult to pay sufficient tribute in such a short time.

By creating a prize in his name, we hope that we have at least gone a little way towards giving Mr Georis the recognition he richly deserves and giving us all an annual reminder of what we might aspire to in our work.

Nous vous remercions Raymond, du fond du cœur, pour tout ce que vous avez fait pour la communauté des fondations.

Mr Georis will now present the first annual Prize for Innovative Philanthropy in Europe.

I am honoured to present to you our friend, Mr Raymond Georis.

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