The President of the Government, Vasco Cordeiro, participates as guest speaker at the 18th European Wachau Forum at the invitation of the Austrian Government. This year's event will be dedicated to the theme "Beyond the Crisis: Outlines of a new Europe" and will take place on Friday and Saturday.

This annual forum usually gathers leaders of Member States, European institutions and other countries as well as civil society personalities, including businesspeople, scholars and politicians. Vasco Cordeiro will deliver a speech in the panel dedicated to the theme "Regions: Subsidiarity and Solidarity."

This panel features the participation of politicians and experts on the matters related to Regions, such as Gottfried Haber from Danube University Krems, Elena Kirtcheva, General Secretary of Vienna Economic Forum, and Herwig van Staa, Regional President of Tyrol, among others.

The European Wachau Forum was created by the Austrian Federal Government in 1994, following the referendum on membership to the European Union. It is a privileged space for the debate on the European integration process.

This year's edition includes four theme panels. The panels will address the future of the Common Security and Defence Policy, subsidiarity and solidarity from the perspective of Regions, growth and fiscal consolidation and the role of Culture in European integration and external relations of the European Union.