Event: Transatlantic Energy Futures

On Wednesday 7 March 2012, Fleishman-Hillard Brussels hosted the book launch of ‘Transatlantic Energy Futures’, followed by a high-level panel discussion on transatlantic energy relations chaired by Dan Baxter, SVP and head of the office’s Sustainability Team. The book was launched by its editor David Koranyi, Non-Resident Fellow at Johns Hopkins SAIS Center for Transatlantic Relations and by András Simonyi, Managing Director of the Johns Hopkins SAIS Center for Transatlantic Relations, to an audience of more than 70 energy enthusiasts.

The panel discussion featured Mark van Stiphout (Member of Cabinet of Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger), Maria da Graça Carvalho (Member of the European Parliament), Gordan Bajnai (former Prime Minister of Hungary), and Robert A. Pollard, Economic Minister-Counselor at the US Mission to the EU.

Panelists discussed a range of topics important to international energy relations, from climate change to security of supply, renewable energy to shale gas. András Simonyi spoke of a “serious disconnection” on energy policy across the Atlantic and proposed strategies to maintain Europe’s attractive energy model. David Koranyi, who presented the book, talked about common interests in EU-US relations and reassured the audience that the picture of transatlantic energy relations is not that pessimistic.

The panel reflected American and European positions on the most pressing energy issues. Gordan Bajnai’s interesting overview of current EU and US policy priorities and the social and financial challenges to EU-US energy relations was followed by Mark van Stiphout’s observations of differences in EU-US interests. MEP Maria da Graça Carvalho presented the European Parliament’s recommendations for transatlantic energy relations. This contrasted positively with Robert A. Pollard’s American perspective of energy policy in Europe.

A short summary of the book, Transatlantic Energy Futures, is available here.

For more information about this event, or if you would like to be kept informed about future energy events, please contact Esther Busscher [email protected]