European Movement Germany

What European Movement Germany does

European Movement Germany (Europäische Bewegung Deutschland e.V., EBD) is Germany's oldest and largest civil society network for European policy, founded on 13 June 1949 in Wiesbaden as the German section of the pan-European European Movement International. It is a non-partisan, non-profit eingetragener Verein (registered association) headquartered in Berlin (relocated from Bonn in the 1990s) at Alt-Moabit 92, 10559 Berlin, with 12 permanent staff and approximately 28 board members. EBD convenes 224 member organizations spanning business associations (BDI, BDA), trade unions (DGB), political foundations (KAS), academic institutes (iep), parties (CDU, CSU, SPD, Grüne, FDP, Volt), youth organizations (JEF), consumer groups (vzbv), municipalities and companies, providing structured consultation processes, event formats (EBD Briefing, De-Briefing, EP-Berichterstatter/in im Dialog, Brussels Alumni), and policy publications (EU-in-BRIEF, EBD Grafiken, Europakalender).

The organization's core offerings are programmatic rather than product-based: flagship projects include the Europäischer Wettbewerb (Germany's oldest student competition, engaging 70,000+ students annually under Federal Presidential patronage), the EU Careers Ambassadors program (deployed at 15 German universities in partnership with EPSO), the German selection process for the College of Europe scholarships, the Preis Frauen Europas (Women of Europe Award, established 1991), and Council of Europe cooperation projects including the Democracy Ambassadors program. EBD holds the legal status of institutional partner of the Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) by resolution of the German Bundestag, alongside project-based funding from the BMBF, BMFSFJ, and the European Commission.

EBD's revenue model is a hybrid of public institutional and project grants (Auswärtiges Amt and BMBF each contribute more than 10% of annual revenue), recurring membership fees from 224 organizations, and donations. There is no commercial pricing; its "go-to-market" is community-led through direct engagement with civil society, government, and business stakeholders, governed by an annual Mitgliederversammlung. The organization does not develop proprietary technology — its "technology" is organized policy expertise, institutional convening power, and a network spanning 34 European countries via its parent EMI.

Name

European Movement Germany

Legal name

Europäische Bewegung Deutschland e.V.

Website

https://netzwerk-ebd.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1949

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Europäische Bewegung Deutschland e.V. (EBD) is Germany's oldest and largest civil society network for European policy, convening 224 member organizations and operating as the Bundestag-designated institutional partner of the Federal Foreign Office since 1949.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Civil Society Policy Advocacy Network

NAICS

Professional Organizations (813920), Business Associations (813910)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Association & Society Conference Management (Nonprofit, Professional Bodies) (THAHACAA)

Keywords

• European policy advocacy
• Civil society network
• Policy consultation services
• Political education programs
• European integration advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Institutional funding (Auswärtiges Amt): The organization receives the majority of its funding (more than 10% of annual revenue) from the Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) as an institutional partner pursuant to a resolution of the German Bundestag. This constitutes the primary public funding relationship.
2. Project-based government funding: Project-specific funding from federal ministries, notably the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for projects such as EU Careers Ambassadors and Europarat cooperation projects.
3. Member organization fees: Each of the over 220 member organizations pays an annual membership fee pursuant to the membership fee schedule (Beitragsordnung) approved by the general assembly.
4. Donations: The organization accepts donations to support its work for European integration, particularly as budget cuts and economic challenges affect the non-profit association.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

European Movement Germany is a non-partisan civil society association that coordinates a network of more than 224 member organizations engaged in European policy. It offers membership-based policy dialogue, event formats (conferences, parliamentary evenings, expert discussions), educational projects (Europäischer Wettbewerb, EU careers ambassadors), a College of Europe scholarship, an award, a Council of Europe project, and publications aimed at fostering participation in European politics in Germany.

Product overview

European Movement Germany (EBD) operates as Germany's largest European policy network, offering a platform connecting over 220 member organizations from society and economy. Rather than a unified software product, the organization provides a suite of event formats for policy dialogue (EBD Briefing, De-Briefing, Exklusiv, Dialog), educational projects (Europäischer Wettbewerb student competition, EU Careers Ambassadors, College of Europe scholarship program), advocacy awards (Preis Frauen Europas), and publications (EBD Grafiken, Europakalender, EU-in-BRIEF). The organization also runs a Council of Europe project with Democracy Ambassadors. These offerings serve civil society engagement, youth education, career guidance, and public diplomacy rather than commercial product functionality.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Preis Frauen Europas: Annual award recognizing women who have shown outstanding voluntary commitment to strengthening a united Europe
• EU Careers Ambassadors
• College of Europe Partnership
• Europäischer Wettbewerb
• Europarat Project

Products and services

• EBD-Veranstaltungen (Event formats)

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 70,000 students reached annually through the Europäischer Wettbewerb educational competition
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered secondary, minor and core.

• YouGovsecondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 May 2026EBD commissioned YouGov to conduct a representative survey of 505 business executives on the role of companies in democratic resilience in Germany, published May/June 2026. The survey was conducted as part of the EBD-Council of Europe project.
• Berlin Bosphorus Initiative (BBI)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019EBD Secretary General Bernd Hüttemann has been a member of the Advisory Board of the Berlin Bosphorus Initiative since 2019.
• Bundesnetzwerk Bürgerschaftliches Engagement (BBE)secondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013Mutual membership since 2013. BBE is a national network of civil society, state, and business actors working to promote participatory democracy in Europe.
• Botschaft des Königreichs Belgien (Embassy of Belgium)secondaryGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2011Co-organizer of the 'Brüssel-Alumni in Berlin' format since 2011, networking former Brussels-based professionals in Berlin with Belgian Ambassador Piet Heirbaut and EBD Secretary General.
• European Movement International (EMI)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1949EBD is the German national member of European Movement International (EMI), a pan-European association of organizations promoting a united, federal Europe founded in Brussels on 25 October 1948. EMI is present in 34 countries with 30 international member organizations. EBD is represented on the EMI board by Vice President Tobias Köck. EMI President: Guy Verhofstadt MdEP; Secretary General: Petros Fassoulas.
• Transparency International Deutschland e.V.secondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1949EBD and Transparency International Deutschland share thematic priorities including participation, transparency, strengthening European democracy, and good governance. Cooperation focuses on improved legislation, transparent decision-making, structured dialogue, EU integrity studies, and the Initiative Transparente Zivilgesellschaft. EBD Secretary General Bernd Hüttemann also serves on the board of Transparency International Deutschland.
• Initiative Transparente ZivilgesellschaftsecondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1949EBD supports this initiative, committing to disclose fundamental information about its structure, tasks, and financing openly.
• Auswärtiges Amt (Federal Foreign Office)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1949EBD is an institutional partner of the Federal Foreign Office by resolution of the German Bundestag. This is EBD's primary institutional funding relationship, providing more than 10% of annual revenue. EBD's mandate includes fostering European communication between the German government and civil society.
• Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1949BMBF provides project-based funding, notably for the EU Careers Ambassadors project and other educational initiatives. BMBF funding exceeds 10% of EBD's annual revenue.
• Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend (BMFSFJ)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1949BMFSFJ co-funds the Europäischer Wettbewerb project along with the Auswärtiges Amt, providing educational support for the competition's 70,000+ annual student participants.
• Europäische Kommission (European Commission)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1949The European Commission is listed as an institutional partner and funder of EBD. The Commission's Germany Representation and the European Parliament's Liaison Office in Germany co-organize events with EBD, including the EP-Berichterstatter/in im Dialog series and the Multilateraler Dialog Europakommunikation.
• Europäisches Parlament Verbindungsbüro in Deutschland (European Parliament Liaison Office in Germany)coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 1949Co-organizer of joint event formats including EP-Berichterstatter/in im Dialog series, which informs German stakeholders about upcoming European Parliament decisions and strengthens dialogue between MEPs and German interest groups.
• Europarat / Council of Europe (CoE)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1949EBD has engaged for many years in making the work and values of the Council of Europe visible in Germany. Two CoE cooperation projects were implemented between 2024 and 2026, including events, publications, and dialogue formats. EBD also advises the German delegation to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities as a permanent member.
• Amt für Europäische Personalauswahl (EPSO)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1949EPSO initiated the EU Careers Ambassadors program. EBD leads the program in Germany within the institutional partnership with the Auswärtiges Amt, with EPSO providing exclusive training seminars for volunteer student ambassadors.
• Deutsche Bischofskonferenz (German Bishops' Conference)secondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1949EBD Secretary General Bernd Hüttemann serves as advisor to the Bishops' Working Group on Europe at the German Bishops' Conference since 2016.
• College of EuropecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1949EBD manages the German scholarship selection process for the College of Europe, the oldest postgraduate European studies institute ( campuses in Bruges, Natolin, and Tirana). The organization also supports the Deutsche Society of the College of Europe, including a mentoring program for applicants.
• Auswärtiges Amt / Ständige Vertretung bei der EUcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1949EBD supports the Brussels Alumni initiative in close cooperation with the institutional partner Auswärtiges Amt and the Permanent Representation of Germany to the EU.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• European Policy Centre (EPC): Brussels-based think tank delivering EU policy analysis, events, and stakeholder convening; a regional peer operating upstream in the same EU-policy ecosystem with comparable event formats, publications, and policy dialogue programming.
• Atlantik-Brücke: Berlin-based membership network promoting transatlantic relations; comparable as a German civil-society convener hosting high-level dialogue, policy events, and youth programs with a strong public-affairs footprint, though focused on US–Europe rather than intra-EU integration.

Others

• Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS): CDU-affiliated political foundation and EBD member organization; comparable as a German civil-society convener with European policy programming, education work, and events, though party-affiliated and substantially larger in budget and headcount.

Broad incumbents

• Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik (DGAP): Germany's leading foreign-policy think tank; an adjacent institution with overlapping EU-policy programming, fellowship networks, and Berlin-based convening power, though operating as a think tank rather than a membership convener.

Direct peers

• Bundesnetzwerk Bürgerschaftliches Engagement (BBE): National cross-sector network of civil-society, state, and business actors promoting participatory democracy in Germany; mutual member with EBD since 2013. Operates a similar multi-stakeholder convener model and is a directly comparable membership-association peer.
• Institut für Europäische Politik (iep): Berlin-based European policy research institute with a member of EBD's board serving as Director; operates in the same EU-policy niche with comparable publications, events, and policy advisory work, though smaller in scale and more research-focused.
• Europa-Union Deutschland (EUD): Founding member of EBD and Germany's other large cross-party, pro-European integration network; overlaps significantly on membership (organizations and individuals), policy advocacy on EU affairs, and event programming, making it the most directly comparable convener in the same niche.
• Junge Europäische Föderalist:innen (JEF) Deutschland: Youth-focused German section of Young European Federalists; an EBD member organization with a parallel mission of promoting European integration through civic education, events, and advocacy — closely comparable on format and policy positioning though narrower on demographic scope.
• Transparency International Deutschland e.V. German chapter of a global anti-corruption membership coalition; the EBD Secretary General sits on its board. Closely comparable as a German civil-society membership organization delivering policy dialogue, publications, and advocacy with comparable funding mix (member fees, donations, project funding).
• European Movement International (EMI): Pan-European umbrella under which EBD operates; runs the Women of Europe Awards jointly with the European Women's Lobby and coordinates national councils across 34 countries. EBD's Vice President sits on the EMI board, making EMI both parent network and the most comparable peer in scope.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/eucareersgermany
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/europa-ische-bewegung-deutschland

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about European Movement Germany