Authors of the book share the idea of Europe as a space of unity-in-diversity based on relations of reciprocity and fraternity. They see it as Europe’s mission to enlarge its post-war idea of peace and integration into a global action. Even though the European Union started in the sphere of economics, it was from the beginning more than economics. Therefore this cahier calls for a stronger sense of spiritual commitment and moral imagination in Europe.

On September 21-22, 2007, the European SPES Forum organized its 4th Annual Conference in Leuven (Belgium) which was preceeded by the Annual Conference of the European Business Ethics Network (EBEN), both hosted by the Centre for Economics and Ethics of the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Values, purposes and functions of European and Asian businesses is a topic of vital importance today. The book contains selected papers of the “Europe-Asia Dialogue on Business, Ethics & Spirituality” annual conference of the European SPES Forum held in 2006 in Budapest, Hungary. Scholars and practitioners from England, Norway, Sweden, and Hungary as well as from India, Indonesia, Japan, and the USA share their views on European and Asian ways of doing business.    

Jointly with the European SPES Forum, the Business Ethics Center of Corvinus University of Budapest conducted the “Europe-Asia Dialogue on Business, Ethics and Spirituality” international conference  from June 30-July 2, 2006, in Budapest. Nearly 50 scholars and practitioners participated in the conference representing Austria, Belgium, China, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, India, Indonesia, Norway, Sweden, the UK and the USA. The conference was place for dialogue on European and Asian business in spiritual viewpoints.