Transatlantic Policy Forum (TAPF)

PROJECT OUTPUTS

The project will strive at enhancing Transatlantic debate concerning the key areas of interest to Transatlantic policy community by bringing together scholars and experts from both the US and the EU and delivering specific, policy-oriented recommendations on these issues to policy makers on both sides of the Atlantic.The experts participating on the project will form a Transatlantic Task Force, which will be sub-divided in four different working groups created around the following topics: 1. Energy security and climate change, 2. Transatlantic market and WTO issues, including trade in agricultural products, 3. Democracy assistance and promotion worldwide and 4. EU – US co-operation in the EU neighbourhood (Western Balkans, Eastern Europe, Caucasus).

Each working group, composed of 6 experts from the US and the EU on a parity basis, will discuss, amend and endorse a policy paper, submitted by the leader of each working group and containing the recommendations as to what steps and measures the EU and US could pursue in each particular policy area in a near future.

The working group outputs and recommendations will be addressed to a variety of policy makers and other stakeholders, namely the newly emerging presidential administration in the US, the team presidency of France-Czech Republic – Sweden, to the EU institutions (Commission, Council Secretariat) and particularly to the EU-US summit which will take place under the Czech presidency of the EU in the spring of 2009, being the key event on which the advocacy will focus. This will be achieved by means of advocacy events, taking place in Paris (November 2008 under the French presidency), Brussels (January 2009), Washington D.C. (February 2009) and Stockholm (June 2009).

The aim of the project also is to launch a wider policy debate on the issues examined, which will be achieved through two major conferences organized in Prague and Washington D.C. The former will be organized shortly ahead of the EU-US summit (Prague), the latter in parallel with the EU-US summit (Washington D.C.). It will give an opportunity to contest the outcomes and recommendations of the Transatlantic Task Force by giving floor also to other experts and policy actors who did not participate in the Task Force and to open a wider policy debate on the issues at stake.

The project enjoys full support of the Czech Vice-Premier for the EU, who will be the chief person in charge of the Czech EU presidency, which should assure its wide policy outreach to the key Czech decision makers during the presidency term. The involvement of strong and renowned partners in the project will assure the outreach to the key US, French, Swedish and EU policy makers.

Europeum´s partners in the project are the following institutions:

Key expected results: