Thoss: The EU integration process came dangerously close to being derailed last year; disappointment and discontent were widespread. In the months that remain until Germany takes over the Presidency of the European Council, we are hoping that the Allianz Lectures will breathe new life into the discussion and show people that achieving a united Europe is a terrific project that will equip us for competition on a global scale.

Moreover, the lectures will serve to enhance the European profile of not only our foundation, but also Allianz as a whole, which is currently embarking on a new European journey, taking on the legal form of a European Company (Societas Europaea).

Thoss: On April 30, Michel Rocard and Bronislaw Geremek will analyze the current impasse in the European Union and offer solutions for overcoming it.

Both have already contributed a great deal to the EU and, as former French Prime Minister and Polish Foreign Minister, neither of them is afraid to cut to the chase and tell it like it is. This is because for politicians of their generation, Europe has always been of vital necessity.

Thoss: We have invited international experts from all important areas of society to come and speak, including Chairman of BP and Goldman Sachs International Peter Sutherland, prize-winning architect Rem Koolhaas, sociologist Ulrich Beck and philosopher Peter Sloterdijk.

The Italian anti-mafia campaigner and politician Leoluca Orlando is said to be on the list for Romano Prodi's new cabinet. A few days ago, his office rang to tell me that Orlando has cancelled all his other German appointments for May, yet particularly wants to keep his Allianz Lecture appointment to discuss the crucial issue of European security with his friend Otto Schily.

Thoss: The transcripts will be available on our website afterwards in their original language. We will also translate the articles from Sueddeutsche Zeitung into English and put them online. In Germany, the lectures will be published as a book at the end of the year.

Thoss: If everything goes to plan, then the lectures will continue in fall and winter. We are currently trying to arrange dates with speakers such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, Israeli pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim and author Umberto Eco. Arranging suitable dates really is a challenge, but I remain convinced that we will be able to put together another top-class program.