The European Institute’s Roundtable on Telecommunications, Information Technology and Media Policies provides a transatlantic forum for government and industry principals to address the wide range of critical issues affecting the ever-changing information society and its infrastructure. Global communication demands increased cooperation between the European Union and the United States to develop effective policies that stimulate scientific and technological innovation, promote systemic and regulatory compatibility, enhance competition, build consensus on internet governance, and address privacy concerns.

Through participation in the Roundtable, members are given unique access to leading U.S. and European policymakers and an insight into initiatives before they become policy. Members use the Roundtable to analyze emerging technologies, identify specific areas of common ground and promote creative policy solutions.

Recent Meetings

As technological advances have created increased bandwidth, next-generation systems and higher levels of user control and participation, the rapid development of communications systems and markets cannot be ignored. In this context, The European Institute convened a special discussion with Ed Richards, Chief Executive Officer of Ofcom, the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries and David Hendon, Director of Business Relations in the Enterprise and Business Group at the British Department of Trade and Industry. The meeting was chaired by Michael Kennedy, Senior Vice President and Director of Global Government Relations at Motorola, Inc.

Following the European Parliament’s recent initiatives to improve European-U.S. cooperation on data privacy and toward reaching an agreement on General Principles of Data Protection, a discussion was convened with a delegation of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, headed by The Hon. Jonathan Evans, Chairman of the Delegation for Relations with the U.S. James Halpert, Partner at DLA Piper served as the moderator. Members of the delegation, including Frieda Brepoels, Patrick Gaubert, Luis Herrero-Tejedor, Sophie in’t Veld, Piia-Nora Kauppi, Berès Prevench and Baroness Sarah Ludford, expressed the need for stronger transatlantic dialogue on data protection, particularly their concerns about SWIFT and PNR information exchange within a common framework for the safeguard of personal information in an environment of heightened security. The U.S. perspective was presented by Peter Chase, Director, Office of European Union and Regional Affairs, U.S. Department of State and Matthew McCabe, Counsel, House Committee on Homeland Security. They expressed their belief that a solution can be found on oversight discussions, as the U.S. and EU share similar values.