This meeting was organized around a provocative new study entitled, Bargaining Power in the European Council, which closely examines the power matrices within the Council and provides rare insights into what it judges to be “in general, a hostile environment for small and medium-sized countries.” The author of this report, Jonas Tallberg, Associate Professor of Political Science, Stockholm University and Visiting Scholar at Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University, presented his findings, and assessed the impact of the Reform Treaty on the sources of bargaining power within the Council. Søren Jensen, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Royal Danish Embassy, commented from the standpoint of a small Northern member of the EU. William Lucas, Director, Office of EU and Regional Affairs at the Department of State offered his perspective on the workings of the European Council and its role and impact on U.S.-EU relations. Mats Hellström, Chairman of the Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies and former Minister of Foreign Trade of Sweden, discussed the increasing political, strategic and economic role of the Baltic Sea Region and the implications of this notable evolution for Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship.

Jean-François Bureau, Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy, NATO discussed NATO’s new strategic concepts as it looks ahead to the 2009 summit, which include prevention of terrorism and maritime awareness, cyber-defense, missile defense and energy security. He also discussed the significance of public diplomacy as NATO redefines its role in order to meet the new security challenges of the 21st century and transitions from a military defense organization into a broader regional security organization. H.E. Andreas Kakouris, Ambassador of Cyprus; H.E. Mark Miceli-Farrugia, Ambassador of Malta; H.E. Dominique Struye de Swielande, Ambassador of Belgium; and H.E. Adrian Vierita, Ambassador of Romania; as well as Gerald Pease, Executive Director, Department of Defense Policy Board on Federal Aviation Leo Michel, a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), National Defense University moderated the meeting.

Peter Hustinx, European Data Protection Supervisor, addressed the transatlantic debate over data privacy, focusing on the EU’s existing data protection system and the risks posed by constant technological innovation as well as increased demands by law enforcement officials on both sides of the Atlantic for deeper and more immediate data exchanges. Paul Rosenzweig, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Department of Homeland Security, offered the U.S. perspective on building an effective law enforcement framework for the sharing of personal data. Yael Weinman, Counsel for International Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission gave the consumer protection aspect. The meeting was moderated by James Halpert, Partner, DLA Piper.

Dr. Isi Saragossi, Director of the European Commission’s “European Research Area: Knowledge-Based Economy” directorate, and Dr. Charles Wessner, Director of Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at The National Academies in Washington, D.C. discussed the priorities of U.S. and European research policy and the challenges and opportunities for policy makers and the scientific communities. The discussion was moderated by Kathleen Kingscott, IBM Industry Chair and Visiting Professor, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University.

The Hon. Dimitrios Katsoudas, Secretary General for European Affairs at the Greek Foreign Ministry, hosted by H.E. Alexandros Mallias, Ambassador of Greece to the United States. Mr. Katsoudas discussed current and potential issues that would arise from a future EU enlargement and the challenges that the integration of new countries would represent for the evolution of the Union. He also offered his perspective about the possibility of a Mediterranean Union which would broaden the EU’s limits and would likely enhance partnership with neighboring countries.