European Institute

On April 16, 2014, The European Institute, in cooperation with the Hellenic Presidency of the European Council and the Center for Transatlantic Relations (CTR), held a meeting on the transatlantic economic relationship and the current state of the TTIP negotiations. Against the backdrop of CTR’s gold-standard report “The Transatlantic Economy 2014”, the discussion focused on furthering closer trade and investment cooperation between Europe and the United States, setting global standards and examined those sectors within the TTIP negotiations that pose particular challenges. Following opening remarks by His Excellency Christos Panagopoulos, Ambassador of Greece to the United States, Dan Hamilton, Executive Director of the Center for Transatlantic Relations at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, gave a brief summary of the CTR study. Panelists for the subsequent discussion included Ambassador Charles Ries, Vice President, International at RAND Corporation & former U.S. Ambassador to Greece; Angela Ellard, Chief Trade Counsel for the Subcommittee on Trade, U.S. House of Representatives Ways & Means Committee; Hiddo Houben, Head of the Trade Section at the Delegation of the European Union; and Everett Eissenstat, Chief International Trade Counsel for the United States Senate Finance Committee. The discussion was moderated by Michael Smart, Vice President at Rock Creek Global Advisors LLC.

On February 19, 2014, The European Institute, in cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania and the Embassy of Sweden, held a breakfast discussion with The Honorable Vytautas Leskevicius, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs for European Affairs for the Republic of Lithuania and His Excellency Björn Lyrvall, Ambassador of Sweden to the United States, focusing on the increasingly potent role that the partnership between Nordic and Baltic states has assumed in defining both regional and European foreign policy priorities.  Particular emphasis was placed on sustaining the EU’s Eastern Partnership Initiative following last year’s Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and on assessing the implications of the volatile situation in Ukraine.

On April 4, 2014, The European Institute hosted a breakfast meeting with Ambassador Andreas Mavroyiannis, Chief Negotiator for the Greek Cypriot community in the intercommunal talks on the Cyprus question. Ambassador Mavroyiannis discussed what is behind the renewed impetus for negotiations, and the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead in reaching a comprehensive settlement.

On February 12, 2014, The European Institute in partnership with the European Parliament Liaison Office with the U.S. Congress hosted a breakfast event with Jaume Duch, Spokesperson and Director of Communications for the European Parliament, to discuss the upcoming European Parliament elections and what they could mean for the European Union and the transatlantic relationship.  Mr. Duch focused on the high stakes at play in May’s elections, as the slates of Europe’s political parties will be headed by specific candidates for the Presidency of the European Commission.  He also discussed the implications of Europe’s long and uneven economic recovery and its potential political impact, including the notable rise of euro-scepticism. Mr. Duch underlined the increasingly important role that the European Parliament assumes on a wide range of issues of transatlantic importance, including TTIP and the protection of data privacy.