On April 30, 2013, The European Institute held a seminar in cooperation with the Jean Monnet Foundation for Europe to examine the challenges and opportunities for transatlantic cooperation in multilateral governance, in monetary, trade and investment policy, and in medical science research and innovation. Speakers included: The Honorable José Maria Gil-Robles, President, The Jean Monnet Foundation for Europe & former President of the European Parliament; François Rivasseau, Deputy Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United States; Ambassador Ioannis Vrailas, Deputy Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations; Ambassador Kurt Volker, Executive Director, McCain Institute for International Leadership, Arizona State University & former U.S. Ambassador to NATO; Antonio de Lecea, Principal Advisor, Delegation of the European Union to the United States; Mark Sobel, Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Monetary and Financial Policy, U.S. Department of the Treasury; Michael Smart, Vice President, Rock Creek Global Advisors LLC; James Mendenhall, Counsel, International Trade & Dispute Resolution Group, Sidley Austin LLP; The Honorable Bart Gordon, Partner, K&L Gates & Former Chairman, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology; The Honorable Chaka Fattah, Member, Committee on Appropriations & Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science & Related Agencies, U.S. House of Representatives; Dr. James Gavigan, Minister-Counselor & Head of the Science, Technology & Education Section, Delegation of the European Union; Professor Henry Markram, Founder & Director, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Brain Mind Institute & Coordinator, Human Brain Project; and Dr. Adrian Ivinson, Director, Harvard NeuroDiscovery Center, Harvard University Medical School.
On April 29, 2013, The European Institute held a dinner hosted by His Excellency Manuel Sager, Ambassador of Switzerland to the United States, to celebrate a year-long partnership that the Institute has formed with the Jean Monnet Foundation for Europe to examine the future of European-American relations through the perspective of major policymakers and practitioners from both sides of the Atlantic. Both Ambassador Sager and His Excellency Michael Collins, Ambassador of Ireland to the United States spoke about the importance of the transatlantic relationship, particularly the powerful and essential trade ties between Europe and the United States and the prospects for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
On April 9, 2013, The European Institute, in cooperation with the Conseillers du Commerce Extérieur (CCE), welcomed Hiddo Houben, Minister-Counselor and Head of the Trade Section at the Delegation of the European Union, for a discussion about the prospects for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Michael Smart, Vice President at Rock Creek Global Advisors LLC, moderated the lively discussion that followed.
By Dan Mahoney, European Affairs Editorial Assistant
The first round of talks on the EU-Japan free trade agreement has been scheduled for 15-19 April in Brussels. The initial framework was agreed last year.
Editor’s Note: As the European Union and the United States launch negotiations on The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, European Affairs inaugurates a series of occasional articles that will chart the progress and assess the implications of this historic initiative.
The interaction between the European unification process towards “an ever closer Union”2 and its most important partner, the “more perfect Union”3 of the United States of America, has been among the top foreign policy issues since the early days of the European project. Equally, helping shape the evolving EU/US relationship has been at the top of my own professional agenda for more than four decades, during which I worked as a close collaborator of European Commission President Jacques Delors, as Director General in charge of External Relations and Political Director for the European Commission, with a stint as the EU Ambassador and Head of the Commission Delegation in the United States from 2000 to 2005. The following are a few thoughts, taken from the background of my personal recollections and practical experience.
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