On November 30, 2012, The European Institute held a special discussion with The Honorable Danuta Hübner, Member of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, Chair of the Parliament’s Committee on Regional Development and former European Commissioner for Regional Policy. Mrs. Hübner discussed the myths of the European economic crisis and detailed what government institutions, particularly the European Parliament, are doing to resolve the crisis.

On November 29, 2012, The European Institute hosted a seminar following the Arctic Council’s formal Senior Arctic Official meeting in Sweden. This seminar brought together representatives of the Arctic Council’s member states and focused on the evolution of the Arctic’s governance and the prospects for ensuring sustainable economic development in this fragile and resource rich region. Panelists included: Berit Enge, Minister Counselor, Political Affairs, Royal Norwegian Embassy; Dr. John Farrell, Executive Director, U.S. Arctic Research Commission; Julia Gourley, U.S. Senior Arctic Official, U.S. Department of State; Ambassador Hannu Halinen, Ambassador, Arctic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finland; Fred Larsen, CEO, Lamor; Ida Heimann Larsen, Minister Counselor, Economic, Royal Danish Embassy; Eva Hunnius Ohlin, Environmental Technology Officer, Embassy of Sweden; Sheila Riordon, Minister, Political Affairs, Embassy of Canada and former Canadian Senior Arctic Official; Brian Robinson, U.S. Coast Guard Liaison, Office of Oceans & Polar Affairs, U.S. Department of State; His Excellency Gudmundur Arni Stefansson, Ambassador of Iceland to the United States; and Ambassador Anton Vasiliev, Senior Arctic Official of the Russian Federation. James Graff, Executive Editor of The Week moderated the discussion.

Click here to read Ambassador Vasiliev's remarks.

On November 8, 2012 The European Institute hosted a discussion with His Excellency Peter Ammon, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United States, on what kind of Europe Germany wants and what the attendant implications could be for European-American relations.

Click here to read Ambassador Ammon's remarks.

On October 25, 2012, The European Institute, in cooperation with the Embassy of Belgium and the Embassy of Switzerland held a special seminar on transatlantic cooperation in stemming the spread of falsified medications.  Mark Witzal, Deputy Director of the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations presented the keynote address.  Panelists in the first session: Bernard Frahi, Vice President for Corporate Economic Security at Sanofi; Ambassador Richard Kauzlarich, Deputy Director at the Terrorism, Transnational Crime & Corruption Center and Adjunct Professor at George Mason University’s School of Public Policy; and Jeffrey Gren, Director of the Office of Health and Consumer Goods at the U.S. Department of Commerce discussed the security, economic and public health risks of falsified medications.  The panel was moderated by Susan Reardon, Director of International Policy, Worldwide Government Affairs and Policy at Johnson & Johnson.  Panelists in the second session: John Roth, Director of the Office of Criminal Investigations at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; Patrick Byrne, Europol Senior Representative and Head of Europol Delegation at the Delegation of the European Union to the United States; Chief Commissioner Patrick Stevens, Counselor and Belgian Police Liaison Officer at the Embassy of Belgium; Kelley Friedgen, Senior Corporate Counsel at Genentech and Legal Advisor to the Genentech Counterfeit Prevention and Response Task Force; and Jeannie Salo, Director for Global Anti-Counterfeiting, Office of International Government Affairs at Eli Lilly and Company examined public and private sector solutions to the fast-growing falsified medications problem.  This panel was moderated by Frédéric Badey, Senior Director, International Public Affairs Coordination, Sanofi.

On October 17, 2012 The European Institute hosted an off-the-record exchange with His Excellency João Vale de Almeida, Head of Delegation and Ambassador of the European Union to the United States, on the priorities for EU-U.S. relations after the upcoming American election. The discussion was moderated by Faryar Shirzad, Global Head of the Office of Government Affairs at Goldman Sachs.