With support from the European Commission, the German Marshall Fund, and the Irish Institute for European Affairs, the second annual U.S.–EU Summit Think Tank Symposium took place June 13–14, 2004.  The one-and-a-half-day conference for American and European scholars was held in Dublin, capping the six-month Irish presidency of the European Union.

The annual Think Tank Symposium, timed to coincide with the official U.S.–EU Summit, seeks to increase American participants’ knowledge of the EU and its structure and to provide European and American think tank communities an opportunity to discuss timely and important policy issues of transatlantic concern.  The 2004 Symposium focused on the consequences of EU enlargement for transatlantic relations and the development of a new European global strategy.  Some 35 European and American foreign policy analysts, professors, and media representatives from 17 countries engaged in an open and frank dialogue. 

Representing the host government, the Hon. Mary Harney, deputy Irish prime minister and minister for enterprise, trade, and employment, gave the keynote address on what an enlarged Europen means for the United States.  U.S. Ambassador to Ireland James Kenny joined Ms. Harney in welcoming the participants to the symposium. Panelists spoke on various aspects of transatlantic relations, including the development of security policy between NATO and the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP); transatlantic engagement in the greater Middle East; and American and European strategies for Russia’s place in the international system.

Among the presenters were Mark Leonard, director of the Foreign Policy Centre in London; Walter Russell Mead, senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations; Antonio Missiroli, research fellow at the European Union Institute for Security Studies; Henning Riecke, resident fellow for transatlantic security policy at the German Council on Foreign Relations; Gary Schmitt, executive director of the Project for the New American Century; and Jeremy Shapiro, director of research and fellow in foreign policy at The Brookings Institution.

The third annual Think-Tank Symposium, entitled “A Common Transatlantic Geo-Strategy for the European Neighborhood,” will be held at GMF’s headquarters in Washington, DC, June 29-30, 2005. Among topics that will be discussed are common strategies toward the Balkans, the Black Sea region, and Russia. Featured keynote speakers will include Robert Cooper, director-general of External and Politico-Military Affairs for the Council of the European Union, and Eberhard Sandschneider, director of the German Council on Foreign Relations.