The Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies (previously the Centre for European Studies) was established in 2007 as the political foundation and official think tank of the European People’s Party (EPP).
The Martens Centre has four main goals: advancing center right thought, contributing to the formulation of EU and national policies, serving as a framework for national political foundations and academics and stimulating public debate about the EU.
The Centre embodies a pan-European mindset based on center right, Christian Democrat, conservative and like-minded political values and research. It serves as a framework for national political foundations linked to member parties of the EPP, with 29 foundations currently members. The Martens Centre takes part in the preparation of EPP programs and policy documents. It organizes seminars and training on EU policies and on the process of European integration. The Centre also contributes to formulating EU and national public policies. It produces research studies and books, policy briefs, and the twice-yearly European View journal.
Its research activities are divided into six clusters: party structures and EU institutions, economic and social policies, EU foreign policy, environment and energy, values and religion, and new societal challenges. Through its papers, publication launches, conferences and online activities, the Martens Centre offers a platform for discussion among experts, politicians, policymakers and the European public.
At the beginning of 2014, the Centre was renamed in honor of its late president and founder, Wilfried Martens, the EPP’s long standing president and former prime minister of Belgium.