On May 13, 2011, The Honorable Arvydas Sekmokas, Minister of Energy of the Republic of Lithuania, assessed his nation’s ambitious efforts to develop a diversified and sustainable energy base and wean itself from total dependence on imported natural gas and electricity. François Rivasseau, Deputy Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United States and Andrea Waldman Lockwood, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy for Eurasia, Africa and the Middle East, added their perspectives on the Baltic Region’s energy security challenges and the role that both EU and US policies can play in successfully meeting them.
On May 9th, The European Institute held a dinner discussion with His Excellency François Delattre, France’s newly appointed Ambassador to the United States. Paris and Washington now share a more convergent vision, the Ambassador said, as both view the transatlantic relationship as not only key to meeting the new challenges of a multi-polar world, but also as the cornerstone of global economic trade. While particular policy differences remain, the Ambassador stressed the shared Franco-American goal of integrating emerging countries into international institutions. Indeed, this year’s French presidency of the G8 and particularly the G20 is central to furthering ongoing reform of “global governance” on a number of pivotal fronts.
On April 27, 2011, Jonathan Faull, Director General for Internal Market at the European Commission, Commissioner Michel Barnier’s principal deputy, discussed the ongoing development and implementation of the EU’s ambitious financial governance reforms, the challenges that lay ahead for renewed efforts to strengthen the Single Market and assessed the prospects for greater European-American cooperation in restoring financial and economic health to both sides of the Atlantic. Richard Weiner, Partner at Sidley Austin LLP moderated the discussion.
On April 13, 2011, a delegation from the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) including The Honorable Stavros Lambrinidis, Vice President of The European Parliament, Vice-Chairwoman Sophie in ’t Veld and The Honorable Jan Philipp Albrecht, MEP, Germany, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance discussed the challenges and opportunities for greater cooperation among the U.S. and EU on data protection issues, passenger name records and the SWIFT agreement. Additional panelists included moderator The Honorable David D. Aufhauser, Partner, Williams & Connolly LLP; Mary Ellen Callahan, Chief Privacy Officer, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS); Nancy Libin, Chief Privacy and Civil Liberties Officer, U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ); Abraham Newman, Assistant Professor, Edmund Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University; and Blas Nuñez-Neto, Professional Staff Member, United States Senate’s Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
In a wide-ranging speech at The European Institute on the increasingly pivotal role of Europe’s Northern Dimension, the President of Latvia, Valdis Zatlers, said his country has survived the economic crisis and is poised for healthy growth and entry into the Eurozone in 2014.
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