BRUSSELS/LONDON: A ranking of the 40 most influential Britons on EU policy is to be revealed later this autumn in the context of EurActiv’s ‘UK in Europe: 40 years, 40 top influencers’ project.

It seems highly likely that British PM David Cameron will make the ranking, as will EU foreign policy chief Baroness Ashton. But who are the other top Brits influencing EU policy?

“This project comes at a time when the UK’s influence in Europe is hotly debated. Actually, each country is in the minority, and the UK does matter a lot. At EurActiv.com we are keen to highlight the real policy actors,” explained EurActiv founder Christophe Leclercq.

EurActiv, the European media network, is compiling a ranking of the 40 most influential Britons on EU policy at a time when Britain approaches 40 years of EU membership (1973-2013).

“The ‘Top 40’ is likely to contain an interesting mix of politicians, civil servants, as well as think-tank leaders and commentators. The ‘UK in Europe: 40 years, 40 top influencers’ project will be a revealing snapshot of the ‘present’, as opposed to a historical trawl,” said Ian Hall, UK public affairs director at EurActiv.com.

A panel of some 15 UK-EU affairs experts – split roughly equally between London and Brussels – have been invited to contribute suggestions as to who should make it into the list. EurActiv is also inviting its readers to make suggestions (uk40@euractiv.com). EurActiv’s panel will whittle down the combined pool of names to the ‘final 40’ - and rank them. The 40 top influencers will then be revealed at an event at Europe House in Westminster on 14 November 2012 at 18:00.

If you have a suggestion for people to make the ranking, email us at uk40@euractiv.com (people’s names and perhaps a couple of sentences of explanation will suffice). The deadline for submissions is 12 o'clock (Brussels time) on Wednesday 10 October.

EurActiv’s ‘UK in Europe: 40 years, 40 top influencers’ project is sponsored by financial services agency Cicero Group. Nucleus, the campaign group for British leadership in the EU, is event partner. The event is being hosted by the European Commission Representation in the UK. 

Media contacts:

Ian Hall, UK Public Affairs Director, EurActiv.com, +44(0)7.530.919.678 (mobile), ian.hall@euractiv.com

Dominique Ostyn, Senior Manager Communication & New Media +32(0)2.788.36.88, communication@euractiv.com
Christophe Leclercq, Publisher, EurActiv.com, +32(0)2.226.58.13, publisher@euractiv.com

Note to the editor:  

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