On February 5, 2010, The European Institute held a meeting of its Transatlantic Roundtable on Trade entitled “Staying Competitive - Europe's Response to Institutional and Societal Challenges” focusing on Europe’s Competition Policy under the Lisbon Treaty and the EU’s 2020 Policy. Isabelle Benoliel, Director for Registry and Resources at the Directorate-General for Competition at the European Commission spoke about the challenges to competition policy within the European Union, especially while tackling the ongoing global economic crisis.  Elizabeth Kraus, Deputy Director for International Antitrust at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s Office of International Affairs spoke about the need for the U.S. to continue to work with the Commission on the challenges facing competition focusing in particular on the need for cooperation and convergence of EU and U.S. policies. John Briggs, Co-Chair of Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider’s Antitrust Practice and Managing Partner of the firm’s Washington office, was the moderator of the discussion.

A major new study documents the potential extra economic growth available on both sides of the Atlantic if the remaining non-tariff trade barriers were eliminated between the U.S. and the European Union.

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The European Union will move a step forward in its campaign to curb piracy in the Gulf of Aden by dispatching a team of advisers to train Somali security forces to protect shipping in the region, EU foreign ministers said after a council meeting in Brussels on July 27.

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Vodka may be being replaced as the “opium of the people” in Russia – by real opium coursing through the veins of a growing number of Russians.

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While the EU and the new U.S. Administration are trying to harmonize their views, trade in food and regulations regarding biotechnology remain among the most delicate areas in transatlantic trade negotiations, in part because of the different backgrounds on which public opinions are based. Dan Rotenberg, Counselor for Agricultural Affairs at the Delegation of the European Commission addressed  the status of the Doha Trade Talks in this sector. His colleague at the Delegation, Dr. Wolf-Martin Maier, Counselor for Food Safety, Health and Consumer Affairs addressed questions regarding food safety and consumer protection regulations.