About
Compass for Europe is a boutique summit, taking place each year in Davos and the Benelux. Our Fall summit in Knokke convenes senior leaders to chart the future of “core Europe” on the border and between two of Europe’s founding members.
Europe needs a new compass for growth and competitiveness, to survive and thrive in the 21st century global economy. Can Benelux be the lighthouse for Europe and its Single Market? Join us in Knokke to discuss and answer these questions, together with fellow industry leaders, academic experts, and policymakers.
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Why Join?
At the Compass for Europe – Knokke Summit 2026, we’ll convene leaders from across Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, to discuss how integration, innovation, and collaboration across the industrial core of Europe can be achieved, and how the region can once become the compass for Europe’s prosperity in the 21st century.
We’ll look at case studies in logistics, energy, finance and law, get insights on the developing political landscape, and learn about the successes and failures of integration in the past. And, we’ll get to know Knokke and de Zwin region, Belgium’s most iconic seaside resort at the crossroads of Belgium and The Netherlands, people and nature, and business and leisure.
Our partners
The Compass for Europe Summit is made possible thanks to the support of our partners.
Lighthouse Partners
North Star Partners
Waypoint Partners
What’s on the programme?
Advancing Core Europe’s Economic Union
How can the core European countries and their leading industry, energy, logistics and financial institutions further integrate, invest, and serve as a lighthouse for Europe’s Single Market and Capital Markets Union?
Strengthening Research and Labor Market Integration
How can the Eindhoven – Leuven – Aachen Technology Triangle become the world’s pre-eminent knowledge economy in the 21st century? And, how can tomorrow’s talent develop across integrated Benelux entities?
Deepening the “Low Countries” political integration
How can increased political collaboration and integration allow the Low Countries to become a global “Middle Power” shaping Europe’s future – and the region’s current and future prosperity?
Advancing Strategic Autonomy and Tech Sovereignty
As Europe enters the AI era, how can locally anchored Benelux tech and media companies ensure Europe’s strategic autonomy, tech sovereignty, and democratic independence?
Who will be there?
The Compass for Europe Summit will welcome 75 European and Benelux business, academic, and political leaders.
Hans De Cuyper
Hans De Cuyper is the CEO of Ageas, a Belgian rooted listed international insurance Group with its main activities in Europe and Asia. He is the 2026 Trends Manager of the Year.
Christian Van Thillo
Christian Van Thillo is the Executive Chairman of DPG Media, the largest media company in Belgium and The Netherlands, and the Chairman of the European Publishers Council.
Liesje Schreinemacher
Liesje Schreinemacher has been Deputy Secretary-General of the Benelux Union since January 2026. From 2022 to 2024 she served as Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation in the Rutte IV cabinet.
Maarten Michielssens
Maarten Michielssens is CEO and Founder of EnergyVision, a renewable energy company listed on the Euronext stock exchange since July 2026 with a market cap of 1B EUR.
Joris Vrielynck
Joris Vrielynck is the CEO of Compagnie Het Zoute, one of the most influential real estate developers on the Belgian coast and historically closely linked to Knokke-Zoute.
Claudia Albertini
Claudia Albertini is CEO of Holcim Belgium. She has more than 25 years of international leadership experience, and previously served as CFO for Holcim’s West Europe and AMEA regions
Joachim Aelvoet
Joachim Aelvoet is Country Executive (CEO) of ABN AMRO in Belgium, where he has worked since 2012. Prior to joining ABN AMRO, Joachim worked at Fortis and the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA).
Bernard Gustin
Bernard Gustin is the CEO and former Chair of Elia Group, a key player in energy transmission in Europe. He is also Chair of InfraMobility, Vice Chair of Charleroi Airport, and former CEO of Brussels Airlines.
Pascal De Buck
Pascal de Buck is the driving force behind the Fluxys group and its 1,400 employees. He joined the company in 1995, came on board the management team in 2008 and is CEO and Managing Director since 2016.
Hans Hack
Hans Hack is the Senior Managing Director of the Brussels office of FTI Consulting, the largest Strategic Communications agency in the Benelux. Prior to joining FTI Consulting, Hans spent more than a decade in Dutch public service.
Michele Chang
Michele Chang is Director of the Transatlantic Affairs programme and Professor in the Department of European Political and Governance Studies at the College of Europe (Bruges).
Louis de Schorlemer
Louis de Schorlemer is Managing Partner of Corporate Diplomat, and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of Villeroy & Boch AG, one of Europe’s oldest industrial family enterprises.
Thomas Lambert
Thomas Lambert is a career diplomat, currently serving as EU Sherpa and diplomatic advisor to the Belgian Prime Minister. A former Belgian ambassador to Luxembourg, he is co-author of a forthcoming book on the Benelux.
Cathy Coudyser
Cathy Coudyser has been the first female mayor in the history of Knokke-Heist since December 2024. Between 2019 and 2024, she was Chair of the Foreign Policy Committee in the Flemish Parliament.
Maarten van Rossum
Maarten van Rossum is Head of Strategy at &FLUENCE in The Netherlands. He is a former diplomat and senior counsel to former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and the ex-global director of public affairs at the Heineken Company.
Pieter Lathouwers
Pieter Lathouwers is Partner at Around Partners, an entrepreneur-led investment firm. He is a co-founder of Dentius, and of Parte and On IT, two of Around Partners’ core platforms.
Sanne Manders
Sanne Manders is President and Co-founder at Flexport, overseeing Flexport’s products and services, and a founding member of the Flexport executive team.
Céline Van Haute
Céline Van Haute is Chief Human Resources Officer Elia Group, and a member of the Supervisory Boards of Eurogrid GmbH and 50Hertz Transmission GmbH
Bart Wouters
Bart Wouters is co-founder and Managing Partner of Strada Partners, a European growth-oriented investment firm. Prior to Strada, Bart was a private equity investor at Bain Capital and at Core Equity Holdings.
Raphaël De Winter
Raphaël De Winter is Senior VP Business Development and M&A at Fluxys Group. Previously he was Director of Nextgrid, Fluxys' business unit that serves as the driving force behind energy transition projects in Belgium.
Jonas Geerinck
Jonas Geerinck is Managing Director and Senior Partner at Boston Consulting Group, based in Belgium. He brings more than 20 years of experience advising leading companies and investors across the globe on strategy, technology, operations, regulation, organization, and transactions.
Michael Collijn
Michael Collijn is the CEO of Alfen N.V., a company at the heart of Europe’s energy transition. Alfen focuses on advancing smart grid solutions, large-scale energy storage, and EV infrastructure to drive long-term grid reliability and sustainable growth.
Marleen Smits
Marleen Smits is CEO of Shell Recharge Solutions Europe, a renewable energy company operating Shell’s public chargers across European roads and destinations.
Koen Hoffman
Koen Hoffman is the Chief Executive Officer of Value Square and a member of the Board of Directors. In addition, he is an independent chairman of the board of directors at Greenyard, Fagron and MDxHealth and an independent director at Banqup Group.
Geert Desmedt
Geert Desmedt is CEO of the Euroclear ESES Central Securities Depositories, covering Euroclear France, Belgium and Nederland. He joined Euroclear in 2002 and has held a number of senior roles across the group, including Co-CEO of MFEX, Group Head of Operational Risk, and CEO of Euroclear Bank's Polish Branch.
Cedric Ide
Cedric Ide is CEO of KBC Securities and a seasoned financial services executive with more than 25 years of international experience in investment banking, capital markets and strategic advisory. Cedric combines deep financial expertise with a strong track record in strategy, governance and leadership across global organisations.
Françoise Chombar
Françoise Chombar is Chairwoman and co-founder of Melexis. She served as the CEO of Melexis for 18 years (from 2003 to 2021). She is currently a member of the Board of Soitec, Antwerp Management School and Mediafin and as investor in some start-ups / scale-ups via the investment vehicle Sensinnovat BV.
Benjamin Bodson
Benjamin is a Belgian diplomat, currently Deputy Head of the Cabinet of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Development Cooperation Maxime Prévot. He previously served at the Permanent Representation of Belgium to the EU.
Christophe de Nijs
Christophe de Nijs is a career Belgian diplomat currently serving as Director General for European Affairs and Coordination and member of the Board of Directors at the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation. He previously served as Belgium’s Coordinator for the European Green Deal.
Jean-Louis Thill
Jean-Louis Thill is Ambassador of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to Belgium. Prior to his current post, he most recently served as Luxembourg's Director for European Affairs and International Economic Relations from 2018 to 2023. He is also a member of the Administrative Council of the College of Europe in Bruges.
Naomie Verstraeten
Naomie Verstraeten is Chief Innovation & Technology at Brainport Eindhoven, building consortia for Semiconductor, Green & Smart Mobility, Battery Technology, Systems Engineering, Complex Advanced Manufacturing, and Additive Manufacturing and Defence.
Pieterjan Desmet
Pieterjan Desmet is the Chief Executive Officer of Decospan, a Belgian family-owned company specialized in the processing of wood veneer and manufacturing of wood flooring. Under his leadership, Decospan has strengthened its position as the European market leader and a global reference in the industry.
Karla Basselier
Karla Basselier is CEO of Fedustria, a non-profit organisation that represents the companies of the Belgian textile, woodworking and furniture industries. Experienced in both the public and private sector, her previous experience includes work for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Antwerp World Diamond Centre.
Michel Miserez
Michel Miserez is Chief Financial Officer, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) for Marriott International. Michel is responsible for leading the EMEA finance function in alignment with the company’s strategic priorities that drive profitability, preference, and growth.
Henk Siebren de Jong
Henk Siebren de Jong until 2024 served as the founding CEO of Versuni, the consumer appliances carve-out of Royal Philips, after a three decade career at the company. He now acts as an executive coach, board advisor, and faculty member at IESE Business School.
Rainer Kiefer
Rainer Kiefer is CEO of Paxon Europe and a member of Bnode’s Executive Committee. Paxon brings together Bnode’s third-party logistics (3PL) activities across Europe, North America and Asia.
Wim Heylen
Wim Heylen is owner and executive chairman of Heylen Group, a Belgian industrial holding that invests in ambitious enterprises and entrepreneurs worldwide. It has current activities in Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxemburg, Italy and Finland.
Ann De Krock
Ann De Krock is General Group Controller at Heylen Group, a Belgian industrial holding that invests in ambitious enterprises and entrepreneurs worldwide.
Patrick Vanhoudt
Patrick Vanhoudt is Dean of the Luxembourg School of Business. His career has spanned the International Monetary Fund, the Stockholm School of Economics, and the European Investment Bank, where he was Principal Advisor until 2023.
Frédéric Geurts
Frédéric Geurts is Managing Director & Senior Partner at Boston Consulting Group, where he leads BCG’s activities in Belgium and Luxembourg. He brings 25 years of experience driving value creation through strategy, transactions, and business transformation, across industries and geographies.
Frank Beckx
Frank Beckx (1980) is CEO of Voka, the Flemish network of enterprises. He began his career as advisor and spokesperson to Flemish ministers Marino Keulen and Fientje Moerman. Later he joined essenscia, where he held various positions, including spokesperson, Head of Communication & Public Affairs, and Managing Director of essenscia Vlaanderen. In 2021 he became active at Voka, as Director of the Knowledge and Advocacy Center.
Nathanaëlle Kiekens
Nathanaëlle Kiekens is a partner at Stibbe, an independent law firm with offices in Brussels, Amsterdam and Luxembourg, and the Chair of Concertgebouw Brugge. She focuses on questions regarding complex public procurement, PPPs, public real estate transactions and public contracts.
Wouter Ghijsels
Wouter is the Managing Partner of the Brussels office of Stibbe, an independent law firm with officed in Brussels, Amsterdam and Luxembourg. He advises financial institutions, corporate, and public sector clients on a broad range of domestic and cross-border financial transactions.
Thomas Dermine
Thomas Dermine is a Belgian politician of the Socialist Party who served in the Belgian Federal Government as the secretary of state for recovery and strategic investments from October 2020 until February 2025. In the 2024 local elections, he was elected mayor of Charleroi.
Jeroen Hoet
Jeroen Hoet is CEO & co-founder of the disruptive imaging startup, eyeo, which develops a breakthrough technology to unlock maximum light sensitivity and unprecedented native color fidelity for image sensors used in mobile devices, industrial systems, XR, physical AI and more.
Michael Anseeuw
Michael Anseeuw is CEO of BNP Paribas Fortis and member of the Executive Committee of BNP Paribas since the start of 2023.
Stefaan Fiers
Stefaan leads the External Affairs chapter at Roche Belgium & Luxembourg and is an Associate Professor in Public Affairs and Comparative Politics at KU Leuven.
Silvia Barceleiro
Silvia Barceleiro is the General Manager of Roche Belgium & Luxembourg, a purpose-driven leader who is deeply passionate about helping patients across the globe access quality healthcare, in both mature and emerging markets.
Wai Hoi Tsang
Wai Hoi is a Managing Director and Head of the Corporate Reputation practice at FTI Consulting Brussels. He brings more than 15 years leading organisations through change and reputation challenges in Brussels, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Caroline de Gruyter
Caroline de Gruyter is a journalist and lecturer based in Brussels. She is a European Affairs correspondent and columnist for the leading Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad and a regular contributor to Foreign Policy, EUobserver and De Standaard.
Jeroen Rigole
Jeroen Rigole is a Managing Director at FTI Consulting Brussels. He has held EMEA leadership roles across Fortune 100 companies, global industry associations and leading consultancies, bringing a broad perspective on reputation, communications and stakeholder engagement.
Dave Sinardet
Dave Sinardet is Professor of Political Science at Vrije Universiteit Brussel and UCLouvain Bruxelles and was elected to the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts. As a columnist, over the past two decades he has written in succession for each of Belgium’s quality newspapers, and currently for De Morgen.
Yannick Huygens
Chief Commercial Officer of ABN AMRO's Belgian Corporate Banking activities. Encompassing corporate coverage, corporate finance, transaction banking and the diamond & juwelery business.
Dorien Leyers
Dorien Leyers is a Belgian multilingual host, moderator and master of ceremonies with nearly two decades of experience in the events industry. Combining her love for the stage with a strong background in event management, she has hosted and moderated numerous national and international events in Dutch, French, English and Spanish.
Dirk Bakker
Dirk Bakker, CEO, Necron Hospitality Group
Willem Vanlaer
Willem Vanlaer is Head of Strategy at Bnode, the international parcel logistics group behind Bpost, Paxon and Landmark Global. He leads the Group’s strategy and transformation agenda, driving Bnode’s ambition to become a regional and digital expert in parcel-sized logistics.
Tine Vandervelden
Tine Vandervelden is International Business Director at Fevia, the Federation of the Belgian food industry. She has been working on international and public affairs in academics, government and the private sector for 20+ years.
David Maenhout
David Maenhout is chocolatier and owner of Chocolatier M in Knokke. He was honored as Chocolatier of the Year 2027 by Gault&Millau.
Guy Vande Vyvere
Guy Vande Vyvere is managing partner of Vybros Capital Partners, founding partner at Vybros NV, and chairman at PDC Brush and Moerman.
Simon Bambach
Simon Bambach has a 40-year career with large corporations in High Tech in the Netherlands and the United States. His last assignment was running the VDL ETG organization as CEO. VDL ETG is the largest contract manufacturer for ASML. Is now a non-executive Board member and consultant to tech and healthcare companies.
Koen Decourt
Koen Decourt is Co-Founder of EnergyVision, a renewable energy company listed on the Euronext stock exchange since July 2026 with a market cap of 1B EUR
Amaryllis Verhoeven
Amaryllis is Deputy Director at the European Commission, DG GROW. She has a wide experience with policy making relating to the single market, digitalisation, industrial policy, business & values, and energy. Amaryllis holds a Ph.D. in law and political philosophy from the KU Leuven and is visiting lecturer. Before joining the Commission, Amaryllis worked as a lawyer in private practice.
Eelko Brinkhoff
Eelko Brinkhoff (CEO) is CEO of PhotonDelta, where he leads the mission to accelerate the growth and maturity of the integrated photonics industry in the Netherlands and Europe. With more than 25 years of experience in economic development, internationalisation and foreign direct investment, he brings a strong network across business, government, knowledge institutes and universities.
Who is convening?
The Compass for Europe Summit is organized by Atlas House, a Swiss-Belgian joint venture of The Cercle and Zocalo, with over a decade of experience in organizing leading Davos events during the World Economic Forum. Its chief conveners and co-founders are Peter Vanham and Olivier Van Horenbeeck.
Atlas House Rules
All summits and roundtables organized by Atlas House are organized under the Atlas House Rules, unless otherwise agreed. In a meeting held under the Atlas House Rule:
- Participants and observers are free to share the insights they gained, but they
cannot reveal who said what at the meeting - Photos and silent videos of the meeting may be shared, and a list of
participants may be distributed among fellow participants and the public
Olivier Van Horenbeeck
Olivier Van Horenbeeck is the founder of Zocalo, a strategic advisory firm supporting C-suite executives and entrepreneurs with reputation management, and business challenges. In this capacity, he leads strategic communication projects all over the EU, the UK and in Switzerland. Van Horenbeeck co-authored Power is Silver, Influence is Gold and chaired ASATT, a leadership program for disadvantaged youth. He co-founded Bepact (Belgian Public Affairs Community) and serves on several advisory boards for European scale-ups.
Peter Vanham
Peter Vanham is editor in chief of The Cercle, a Swiss-based media organization and think tank, covering the global economy and the people who shape it, from a European perspective. Prior to founding The Cercle, he was executive editor at Fortune until 2026. From 2012 to 2022, he worked at the World Economic Forum, lastly as Head Writer, where he developed the organization’s views on globalization and stakeholder capitalism. He is the co-author of several books, including The New Nature of Business (with André Hoffmann, 2024), Stakeholder Capitalism (written with Klaus Schwab, 2021), and the co-convener of several Fortune and Davos events.
Contact
Contact us in case you have any questions.