The History and Foundations of European Integration: A Contribution to the Debate on the Future of the Union -- The Centre-Right for a New Europe -- Knowledge: The Foundation for a Stronger Europe -- The EPP’s Role during the European Electoral Campaigns in 2004 and 2009 -- Society, Values, Politics: Reflections on the Basic Dilemmas of European Society and the Demand for Moral Choices -- Conservative Challenges -- Looking for the Causes and Consequences of the Global Financial and Banking Crisis: Neo-Liberalism in the Dock -- Pragmatism, Not the Market: On the Politico-Economic Division of Labour -- The EU Needs a Social Market Economy, Now More Than Ever -- The ‘Strong State’ Paradigm: Good Government and the State in Central and Eastern Europe – Why Do We Need a Stronger State? -- The European Centre-Right and European Integration: The Formative Years -- The Emergence of a New European Centre-Right, 1945–1962 -- The Origins and Foundation of the New Democracy Party -- Sense and Sensibility: EU Eastern Enlargement and the Future of Europe’s Centre-Right -- ‘Left’ and ‘Right’ in Slovenian Political Life and Public Discourse.

In the 2009 elections, the European centre-right emerged victorious, thus affirming its political domination in contemporary European politics. The aim of this book is not to provide an analysis of the factors that contributed to the EPP’s political prevalence. Instead, it is to help this large political family maintain its vigour of political thought and policy prescriptions. The book provides a forum for prominent centre-right thinkers to debate the major European problems of our times, with particular emphasis on the management of the financial crisis and the next institutional steps regarding the European integration project. It assembles the views of politicians, academics and think-tank fellows from different national backgrounds and dissimilar ideological perspectives (Christian Democrats, conservatives and neo-liberals) who unfold their vision for Europe’s future. Moreover, it reflects the origins of contemporary European centre-right parties in order to reaffirm the core values and main priorities that have historically informed their policies. Overall, the book attempts to both highlight and stimulate the centre-right contribution to the discussion of Europe’s main contemporary challenges.