Best Wishes and New Goals From Our President

In 2017, thanks to our team and the loyal support of our corporate members, Institut Montaigne established itself as a reference regarding a wide range of policy issues, such as education, professional training, labor laws - and these are just a few examples. Our report on the future of Europe, which was released in a context marked by Brexit and the rise of Euroscepticism, is also an essential milestone in our evolution. Our publications, our events, our ad hoc initiatives, like the watch we provided for the 2017 French presidential election, and more generally the core of our functioning were tried and tested throughout this vibrant year.

These achievements have encouraged us to take a step further, dig deeper and challenge ourselves. This past year, Institut Montaigne can be proud to have promoted an agenda full of international encounters, which enabled us to address key political and geopolitical issues. Distinguished international personalities chose to deliver their first official speeches in France during events we orchestrated. We also formed strong partnerships with leading institutions: the Policy Institute at King’s College London and Chatham House in the United Kingdom; the Brookings Institute and the Atlantic Council in the United States; and the OCP Policy Center in Morocco. More international projects are still to come, and all will help propagating Institut Montaigne’s recommendations both at the European level and on a global scale. This international expansion will nonetheless not distract us from domestic issues, which we hold dear. This infallible attachment is the reason why we are increasingly developing partnerships in French regions, a project we will actively pursue in 2018.     

We would like to particularly thank our corporate members for their support, as well as for their dynamic and enlightened participation in our work. In order to meet their expectations, we will launch a major external evaluation in 2018. Its goal will be to assess our institution’s strengths and weaknesses, and will help us seize the opportunities that will inevitably arise in the years to come. As with our other projects, we will conduct this operation with the rigor, curiosity and independence that have always been our greatest strengths.