Brussels (Belgium), 20th-21st May 2025 | OIDEL participated in the 2025 edition of Think Tank Central, New Direction’s annual flagship conference. The event brought together leading centre-right civil society organisations under the theme: “Freedom in a Changing World”, focusing on how to advance liberty in the face of conflict, economic uncertainty, and cultural polarization.

OIDEL took part in the session titled “Educational Freedom”, which addressed growing concerns across Europe regarding who decides what children are taught and how. The discussion focused on empowering parents, protecting academic freedom, and fostering a more competitive and diverse educational ecosystem.

🎤 Panelists included:

Laurence Trochu, MEP (France)

Stephen Bartulica, MEP – Political Network for Values (Croatia)

Robert Tyler (Moderator, New Direction)

Ignasi Grau – OIDEL (Switzerland)

Patricia Santos – CEU CEFAS (Spain)

Kate Pesey – La Bourse Tocqueville (France)

Thierry Lafont – ISSEP (France)

Adina Portaru – ADF International (Belgium)

OIDEL’s intervention highlighted that, despite the legal recognition of the right to educational freedom in core international human rights treaties—including the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and many national EU constitutions—this right remains under growing threat. We used the opportunity to share our Freedom of Education Index with Members of the European Parliament, emphasizing the need to uphold and defend this foundational right across Europe.