The Franco-Austrian Center for European Convergence (CFA/FZ) is a Franco-Austrian intergovernmental organization, initiated in 1976 by Prime Minister Jacques Chirac and Federal Chancellor Bruno Kreisky, with the aim of developing economic relations between Western and Eastern Europe, and contributing to the creation of a peaceful Europe.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the CFA refocused its efforts on the issues of European Union (EU) enlargement and included Hungary and Poland, the Czech and Slovak Republics, Slovenia, the Baltic States, as well as Romania and Bulgaria in its scope of activities. The CFA’s role as a space for reflection and exchange is strengthened by the need to support the new EU member countries in their integration process. Since 2004, the CFA has also turned its attention to the EU’s new neighbors, especially the Western Balkan countries, who are considering their future within a European perspective.
The CFA seeks to situate all of its exchanges in a global perspective regarding the future of our continent. It currently focuses its activities on three directions: Franco-Austrian bilateral dialogue, the future of the EU, and the future recomposition of the continent.
Reports of all events organized by the CFA are available on its website (http://oefz.at). The CFA’s budget is provided by the French and Austrian Ministries of Foreign Affairs. Depending on the topics covered, the CFA calls on European public and private institutions to contribute to the financing of its meetings.
The CFA’s orientations benefit from the recommendations of a Steering Council, approved by a Board of Directors, which elects a president and a general secretary from among its members.
