On 17 June, AmCham EU hosted The Transatlantic Digital Economy: Policy Opportunities to Drive Growth Conference, featuring two panels of industry and policy experts discussing ICT policy and the EU Cloud Strategy in the context of the upcoming Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations. Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for the Digital Agenda set the tone for the event with her opening keynote address, stressing the huge potential of a true transatlantic regulatory and investment partnership while underlining some of the key areas of concern of future US-EU.

On 16-17 June, AmCham EU participated in the Relay for Life organised by the International Community of Brussels, walking in memory of the late Lizanne Scott, a long-standing member of AmCham EU.

Over 30 teams with nearly 600 participants and cancer survivors gathered for the event at St. John’s International School in Waterloo, walking 24 hours and raising over €100,000 for cancer research and support in Belgium.

Please click here for more information on Relay for Life in Belgium.

Last night, the Council of Ministers adopted a mandate for the Commission to negotiate a comprehensive trade and investment agreement with the United States, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

The mandate is composed of a decision of the Council and a decision of the representatives of the Member States authorising the opening of negotiations, as well as directives for the negotiation of the agreement. The directives foresee an agreement made up of three key components: market access; regulatory issues and non-tariff barriers; and rules. 

On 2 – 7 June, members of AmChams in Europe travelled to Washington, DC and for the first time to New York, for their 2013 Transatlantic Conference. With over 30 participants representing 28 AmChams from across Europe and wider Europe, it provided for fantastic profiling of the network. The updated version of the AmChams in Europe’s Case for Investing in Europe report – The Case for Investing in Europe 2013: Why US Firms Should Stay the Course – featured throughout the entire program and was launched in both Washington D.C. and New York.

On 11-12 June, members of the AmCham EU Transport, Energy and Climate Committee visited the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The delegates had 16 meetings with MEPs, MEP assistants and political group advisors. A large cross-section of issues were touched upon during these meetings including the Airport Package, Fourth Railway Package, ETS, Connecting Europe Facility and the Road Safety and Roadworthiness Package.

This week, 30 representatives from AmChams across Europe and wider Europe, took part in an annual delegation visit to Washington, DC and, new for this year, New York. The programme began in Washington with briefings from the US Chamber of Commerce, the US State Department and the Atlantic Council, as well as a cocktail organised by the US Chamber to give a sneak preview of AmCham in Europe’s new report The Case for Investing in Europe 2013: Why US Firms Should Stay the Course. 

On 6 June, AmCham EU hosted a lunch with David De Falco, Director, Office of the European Union, Market Access and Compliance, International Trade Administration, US Department of Commerce.

Discussions during the luncheon centred on the work of the Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC) and the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). De Falco stressed that these are two separate tracks, but that there could be a natural spill-over at a later stage between the two. The TEC remains focused, among others, on promoting innovative activity, SMEs and IP protection.

Today, members of the AmCham EU's Digital Economy Committee met with Matthew Scholl, Deputy Chief of the Computer Security Division, Information Technology Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to discuss cybersecurity policy on both sides of the Atlantic. Scholl, who has been following cyber issues for many years, shared his expertise on cybersecurity and how the US’s Executive Order is being coordinated among the various government agencies back in Washington, DC. 

In this month's video message, Susan Danger, Managing Director, AmCham EU, speaks to us from the Presidency Group delegation visit to Vilnius, Lithuania. In addition to highlighting the very successful delegation visit, Susan also speaks about the upcoming AmChams in Europe delegation visit to Washington and New York, AmCham EU's digital economy conference with Commission Vice-President Neelie Kroes, and AmCham EU's upcoming 50th anniversary gala.

AmCham EU’s Presidency Group is just back from a two-day delegation visit to Vilnius during which it engaged with key Lithuanian government officials. On 30-31 May, 17 members of the Presidency Group representing a variety of sectors met with four Lithuanian ministers (Justice, Environment, Health and Finance) and four vice-ministers (Agriculture, Transport & Communications, Energy, and Foreign Affairs). In addition, there were meetings at the Central Bank and the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.