Board of Governors

A total of seven European Member States sit on the Institute’s Board.  Currently, it comprises of Belgium, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Spain, and Sweden. Together, they provide strategic, political, and technical support to the Institute.

The inaugural meeting of the Board of Governors took place on 5 May 2014 with participation of the founding members: Belgium, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Mr. Staffan de Mistura was appointed President of the Board and immediately took up his duties. He was succeeded by Mr. Pekka Haavisto in 2016 and Ms Annika Söder in 2019.

Starting January 2024, Helga-Maria Schmid was nominated by the Institute’s Board of Governors as its fourth President. In December 2025, her mandate was further confirmed for another two-year term.

MEP Advisors

During each five-year term, the European Parliament nominates five Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) as advisors to the Institute, representing different political groups. This creates opportunities for us to maintain parliamentary focus on threats and opportunities, to contribute to briefings and other meetings and to benefit from their advice on maintaining political support for dialogue and mediation.

The following MEPs are currently advisors to the Institute:

Finance and support

The aim of the European Institute of Peace is to carry out work of a philanthropic nature. It is devoid of any profit-making purpose and its objective is to contribute to and complement the global peace agenda of the European Union and European states through mediation and informal dialogue.

The Institute’s status is listed as ‘public interest foundation’ in accordance with the Belgian law of 27 June 1921 on non-profit associations, international non-profit associations and foundations.  Donations are  received from several countries through membership fees and project funding from national governments and the European Commission.

In 2023, we had a total operating income of over 10 million euros and corresponding expenditure.