Europe & Transatlantic Relations

On September 28, 2010, the Center on the United States and Europe at Brookings hosted Catherine Ashton, the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, for a roundtable discussion on U.S.-European affairs with a small group of transatlantic policy experts.

The workshop was followed by the 2010 CUSE Annual Conference, which was co-organized by the Heinrich Böll Foundation and Brookings.  The Annual Conference featured prominent speakers from both sides of the Atlantic who explored critical issues shaping the future of transatlantic relations in the post-Lisbon Treaty era, including Europe’s Eastern neighborhood and the role Russia plays, and the impact of the Eurozone crisis.

With a U.S. Administration still popular across Europe and a new Lisbon Treaty designed to enhance the diplomatic reach of the European Union, transatlantic relations should now be at their best in years. But this is clearly not the case, with the strategic partners often looking in opposite directions.

Never waste a crisis.  In a few years, if we succeed in overcoming the current problems, we might say that the progress made in economic governance in the wake of the Greek crisis was a gift.

On April 8, 2010, the Heinrich Böll Stiftung North America and the Center on the United States and Europe at Brookings will hold a panel discussion to launch the book "The Foreign Policy of the European Union. Assessing Europe's Role in the World" and discuss the past, present and future of EU foreign policy.