On May 28, 2013, The European Institute welcomed Dr. Zsolt Becsey, Coordinator for Foreign Economic Affairs at the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to a special meeting of the Transatlantic Roundtable on Trade & Investment to discuss the challenges and opportunities in the upcoming negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Expressing strong support for this historic initiative, Dr. Bescey emphasized that TTIP would not only benefit both sides of the Atlantic, but it could well act as a catalyst for the success of future multilateral trade agreements.
On April 5, 2013, The European Institute hosted a discussion with Viviane Reding, Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights, and Citizenship. Vice President Reding outlined the “ambitious and controversial” goal of a “United States of Europe” in which a federal political system would be of full measure with Europe’s global economic clout. Key would be the popular election of the European Commission President and the establishment of a bicameral legislature with one house representing E.U. member states and the second representing the people. Jacqueline Grapin, Founder and co-chair of the Board of Directors of The European Institute, offered opening remarks, noting that there was no one better to “address the institutional coordination and democratization” of the EU than Vice President Reding.
By Michael D. Mosettig, former Foreign Editor of PBS News Hour
Twice in the past 100 years, leaders and representatives of France and Germany have gathered in glittering salons, amid gold trimming and mirrors, in Paris and its environs to sign historic treaties. The first, at Versailles in 1919, was an act of vengeance against a defeated Germany and helped pave the way for another war twenty years later.
Europe must be grateful to Greece for dramatizing: how the Euro is fundamentally flawed; how the Euro’s failure could cause a financial-economic disaster; and how European Union (EU) leaders must, despite all their differences and electoral setbacks, cooperate to avoid a Greek tragedy.
By Federico Santi, editorial assistant at European Affairs
Reactions to the victory of François Hollande, the first socialist to hold the French presidency since 1985, have dominated the news for days as leaders and observers around the world assess the impact that his victory, along with the tumultuous election in Greece, will have on the way Europe will deal with the current economic crisis and the swirling debate on austerity versus stimulus for growth.
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