Hosted at the Embassy of Finland, this meeting was convened on the 10th Anniversary of the European Union’s Common Strategy on Russia and in anticipation of the upcoming EU-Russia Summit in May and the U.S.-Russia Summit in July, and included a review of Finland’s recently-released Action Plan for Russia. As both Europe and the United States ramp up diplomatic efforts, the pivotal implications of Russia’s economic, energy and security policies have spurred the need for a more coordinated and complimentary transatlantic approach. Participants included His Excellency Pekka Lintu, Ambassador of Finland to the United States; Maimo Henriksson, Director of the Unit for Russia at Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs; Hiski Haukkala, Special Advisor for the Unit of Policy Planning and Research at Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs; Luc Véron, Minister-Counselor and Head of the Political and Development Section for the Delegation of the European Commission; and Samuel Charap, Fellow for National Security and International Policy at the Center for American Progress and Visiting Fellow for the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Convened on the eve of the IMF and World Bank Spring meetings, this seminar gathered U.S. and European policy-makers to discuss the role of transatlantic cooperation in turning the crisis into an opportunity for better global financial governance. The need for closer regulatory coordination between the United States and the European Union emerged as a widely-shared conclusion among the participants, including The Honorable Paul Kanjorski, Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises and Stefano Manservisi, Director General, DG Development, The European Commission. Willy Kiekens, Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund, and Elizabeth Jacobs, Deputy Director, Office of International Affairs, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission outlined the priorities of their respective organization. The Honorable Erkki Liikanen, Member of the European Central Bank Governing Council and Governor of the Bank of Finland echoes this call for increased coordination between the US and Europe, as well as among European States. The Honorable Luc Frieden, Minister of the Treasury for the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg offered the luncheon keynote address. The meeting was moderated by Daniel Duncan, Senior Director of Government Affairs, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

 

This meeting was supported by the Transatlantic Program of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany through funds of the European Recovery Program (ERP) of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.

This meeting hosted by the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia, addressed trade issues in light of the current economic crisis and declining trade. Speakers included: Mauro Petriccione, European Commission's DG Trade Director for bilateral relations including the United States and China; Dr. Tihomir Stoytchev, Minister and Deputy Chief of Mission for the Embassy of Republic of Bulgaria; and William “Bill” Craft, Jr., Acting Assistant Secretary for Trade Policy and Programs at the U.S. Department of State.  All of the panelists agreed that despite the economic crisis, it is vital to avoid protectionism policies and that transatlantic cooperation is needed to keep world trade markets open.

This meeting assessed the reasoning behind U.S. and EU positions on the merits and effectiveness of global human rights frameworks and identified opportunities for transatlantic cooperation in the promotion of human rights.  Speakers included: Ambassador Thomas Greminger, Head of Political Affairs Division IV, Human Security of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs; Robert Harris, Assistant Legal Advisor for Human Rights and Refugees at the U.S. Department of State; Claudia Pinto, Senior Political Advisor at the Delegation of the European Commission; and Dr. Ruth Wedgwood, Edward B. Burling Professor of International Law and Diplomacy and Director of the International Law and Organizations Program at The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.  The session was moderated by Elizabeth Andersen, Executive Director of the American Society of International Law.

This meeting focused on Europe’s increasingly troubled energy relationship with Russia, with particular emphasis on Northern Europe. Against the backdrop of the Ukrainian gas crisis and renewed pledges on the Nord Stream gas pipeline project, participants assessed Russia's influence in European energy markets and the critical interplay between Russia's economic downturn and energy export policies, as well as the attendant implications for the transatlantic relationship. Participants included Pekka Sutela, Head of the Bank of Finland's Institute for Economies in Transition; Anders Åslund, Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics; Jaroslav Kurfürst, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of the Czech Republic; Dr. Phyllis Yoshida, Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Energy Cooperation, U.S. Department of Energy; Tomas Gulbinas, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania and J. Robinson West, Chairman, Founder and CEO, PFC Energy. Ambassador C. Boyden Gray, former U.S. Special Envoy for European Union Affairs and Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy presented keynote luncheon remarks.