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Category: Roundtables

Created on 04 August 2008

Named to his current position three months ago, The Honorable Diego López Garrido, Spanish Secretary of State for the European Union, plays a key role in setting the agenda for Spain’s upcoming Presidency of the European Council and will steer the Presidency during its term in the first semester of 2010. Mr. Garrido offered his perspective on Spain’s plans for the Presidency and assessed the current challenges and opportunities facing the EU, including two current top priorities of particular resonance for Spain:  immigration and the Union for the Mediterranean.

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Category: Roundtables

Created on 11 July 2008

In his first public remarks since the Irish rejected the Treaty of Lisbon, His Excellency John Bruton, Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to the US, offered a rich and insightful assessment of the historic vote and its implications for Ireland and the European Union. Expressing his personal views, the former Prime Minister of Ireland contended that the impermeability of the treaty itself, concern about loss of sovereignty,  and the absence of belief in distinctly European values led voters in Ireland to vote No.

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Category: Roundtables

Created on 25 February 2008

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.

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Category: Roundtables

Created on 16 January 2008

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.

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Category: Winter/Spring 2008

Created on 02 December 2007

The question of Turkish membership is one of the most difficult and important challenges facing the European Union. How this challenge is managed will have a significant impact on Turkey’s political evolution and on the EU’s own strength and vitality. Turkish membership in the EU would anchor Turkey firmly to the West and provide an important bridge to the Muslim world in the Middle East. Turkey also has the potential to become an important regional hub for the transport of Caspian gas and oil, which would allow Europe to reduce its dependence on Russian energy supplies.

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