Brussels, 16/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - The association “Confrontations Europe” opened reflection on Thursday on the future of Europe with a discussion organised at the seat of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on the theme: “How to get Europe out of the crisis. Dialogue on social and economic model”. As stressed by the secretary general, Claude Fischer, the aim is not to defend the positions of any one political movement or any one pressure group but to confront the different stances and to discuss them freely and openly. Philippe Herzog, President of the Association, and former MEP Michel Barnier, former European Commissioner and former French Foreign Minister (who was making his “political entry” in Brussels), Mario Monti, former European Commissioner and President of the Bocconi University, and MEPs Elisa Ferreira and Dariusz Rosati (of the Socialist Group) presented their opinions and guidelines, which were not always identical. The members of the association then took part in the debate and asked questions. EUROPE will come back to what was learnt from the first debate, mainly in our column “A Look Behind the News”.