On November 12, 2013, The European Institute, in partnership with the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia hosted a special meeting with The Honorable Roman Jakic, Minister of Defense of the Republic of Slovenia to discuss the future of Euro-Atlantic security integration. Minister Jakic focused on the prospects for greater regional cooperation in the Balkans, the prospects for NATO enlargement in 2014, and the vital role that NATO continues to play in insuring security for both Europe and the United States in a rapidly changing global strategic environment.

Click here to read Minister Jakic's remarks.

chrisboam2013On a foggy night in October 2003, my wife and I found ourselves late for an expected arrival in Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland.  Shortly after dark, we entered a part of the Dingle Peninsula route known as the Conor Pass, not being at all adequately briefed as to what this road entailed.  At one point, my wife – who had taken over the driving – asked me what I was looking at.  The real answer was indeed “nothing,” for despite the pitch-blackness, it had been clear to me for at least a mile that we were driving along the edge of a shear cliff face.  I did my best at being nonchalant.  “Just keep focused on the road ahead, and we can talk about it in Tralee.”  We did arrive safely, but still, I made sure that we ordered pints before looking at guidebook pictures of the Pass.

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On March 5, 2013, The European Institute, in cooperation with the Embassy of Italy and the Delegation of the European Union, organized a discussion with Dr. Patrick Gallagher, U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce and Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and Giuseppe Abbamonte, Head of the Trust and Security Unit at DG CONNECT of European Commission, on transatlantic cooperation on cybersecurity. Luca Franchetti Pardo, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Italy, offered welcoming remarks and stressed the importance that Italy and the EU attach to cybersecurity. As the EU continues to pursue a Digital Single Market, cyber-threats have become an urgent matter to be addressed. Both Dr. Gallagher and Mr. Abbamonte emphasized the importance of cybersecurity, the measures being taken to enhance it in the U.S. and the EU, and recognized the shared values as imperative for increased European-American cooperation in this field.

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 May 8, The European Institute, in partnership with the European Parliament, welcomed Dr. Christian Ehler, Chairman of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with the United States, to a breakfast discussion on the challenges and opportunities for greater transatlantic cooperation on cybersecurity. Stressing that cybersecurity has become a priority issue on the European agenda, Dr. Ehler underlined the need to strengthen private-public partnerships to develop and implement coordinated response strategies to the escalating risks of cyber attacks.  Christopher Painter, U.S. Department of State Coordinator for Cyber Issues and John Cosgrove, Deputy Cyber Exercise Lead of SRA International’s Cyber Security and Risk Analytics Division, both presented their perspectives on the future of transatlantic cooperation on this critical front and echoed Dr. Ehler’s call for greater public-private coordination. The discussion was moderated by Andy Purdy, Chief Cybersecurity Strategist for CSC.