Founded in Brussels in 1983, the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) is a leading ​think tank and ​forum for debate on EU affairs,​ with an exceptionally strong in-house research capacity​ and an extensive network of partner institutes throughout the world. CEPS’ funding ​comes from a variety of sources, including membership fees, project research, foundation grants, conferences fees and publication sales.

Goals

• To carry out state-of-the-art policy research leading to solutions to the challenges facing Europe
• To achieve high standards of academic excellence and maintain unqualified independence
• To provide a forum for discussion among all stakeholders in the European policy process
• To build collaborative networks of researchers, policy-makers and business representatives across the whole of Europe
• To disseminate their findings and views through a regular flow of publications and public events

Assets

• Complete independence to set its own research priorities and freedom from any outside influence
• Quality research by an international staff of more than 70 people drawn from 23 different countries
• An extensive membership base of some 120 Corporate Members and 130 Institutional Members, which provide expertise and practical experience and act as a sounding board for CEPS policy proposals

Funding

CEPS’ funding comes from a wide variety of sources, which allows us to maintain their independence. In 2015, they have budgeted revenues of € 7.7 million. A portion of this amount is attributable to the EU contracts that CEPS coordinates and thus represents a flow of funds into and out of their accounts. They are an active partner in 22 different FP7 and H2020 projects, the European Commission’s Framework Programme for research, four of which start in 2015. The distribution of income sources in the 2015 budget, as shown in the pie chart above, is in line with previous years. The lion’s share, 45% in the 2015 budget, comes from EU research contracts and tenders awarded to CEPS on a competitive basis by EU institutions, agencies and national governments. They budget 19% for membership fees from a wide variety of corporate and institutional sponsors. They expect to raise most of the remaining income from funds generated through projects: 18% from private organisations and 5% from foundations. An additional 7% of CEPS’ income is generated through the organisation of events and the balance from new projects. The breakdown of the 2015 budget does not include revenues earmarked for CEPS’ partners in externally-funded projects. Members of CEPS staff come from numerous countries, with 23 different nationalities currently working at CEPS, 16 of which are EU member states. The research staff is also highly qualified, with almost 60% having attained or in the process of completing a PhD degree.