Policy Paper: Time to Redefine the Terms and Conditions of the Transatlantic Relationship? – 2021 Transatlantic Policy Forum in Review

On November 18-19, 2021, the fourth edition of the Transatlantic Policy Forum took place. It was hosted by EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy in partnership with the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the International Republican Institute (IRI), supported by the International Visegrad Fund, Friedrich Naumann Foundation, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. The aim of this Policy Paper is to provide a summary and analysis of the discussions that took place, while respecting the Chatham House rule and thus preserving the anonymity of the participants. This analysis aims to highlight and elaborate on the main findings of the participants.

The Transatlantic To-Do List 

While the US and EU stand on opposite sides on many issues, the Forum reiterated the need for closer cooperation, especially regarding strengthening democratic values. 

The Forum’s takeaways identify the strategic priorities that experts from both sides of the Atlantic outlined during the event to try and strengthen the transatlantic resilience moving forward. The authors summarized these in a list of ten priorities as a Transatlantic To-Do List for what both the US and the EU should work on next: 

1. Rebuild trust and diplomacy among democratic allies – find ways to create long-term transatlantic resiliency.
2. Continue to build European security capabilities; agree on strategic division of labour between NATO and EU and further invest in European joint capacity building.
3. Work on developing stronger security infrastructure between US and EU – for example military mobility.
4. Create a common threat analysis and find a common approach on dealing with Russia and China – but acknowledging the different threats posed by each country.
5. Mitigate disinformation and propaganda by investing and protecting free media.
6. Bolster transatlantic trade and economy by revisiting trade negotiations and agreements through multilateral framework.
7. Align on energy and climate security challenges by accelerating renewables and further diversification of resources to drive interconnectedness between the markets.
8. Enhance investments in regional cooperation and investments through the Three Seas Initiative (3SI).
9. Increase domestic debate and reshape the ‘foreign policy for the middle class’.

Restore shared values and support for democracy and rule of law by galvanizing the world’s democracies.

Read the whole article through the PDF button. 

Alexandra Visnerova
Senior Project Manager, Transatlantic Policy Forum

Danielle Piatkiewicz
Research Fellow

Areas of expertise: Transatlantic and Central and Eastern European foreign and security relations, democracy promotion and NATO.