European Institute

On September 23^rd, The European Institute held its Annual Meeting of the Members and Board of Advisors at the Embassy of Austria in Washington, DC. Following opening remarks by Joëlle Attinger, President of the European Institute and Sigurd Pacher, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Austria, Julieta Valls Noyes, Deputy Assistant Secretary for European & Eurasian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, gave an overview of the current U.S.-EU relations and singled out the need for stronger cooperation in light of the crisis in Ukraine, the importance of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, and possible solutions for European energy security as the areas of most immediate concern. François Rivasseau, Deputy Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United States,surveyed the current security challenges facing the EU with a special emphasis on its Southern and Eastern neighborhood. Everett Eissenstat, Chief International Trade Counsel for the United States Senate Finance Committee, elaborated on the significance of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, and Dr. William Pomeranz, Deputy Director of the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center, offered an analysis of the current events from a Russian perspective and provided his insights on the future of the relationship between Russia and the West. The discussion was moderated by The Honorable Bart Gordon, Partner at K&L Gates, LLP.