2006 PRESS RELEASES

Transatlantic Energy Security Situation: Unreliable Supply, Unreasonable Cost
April 30, 2006

Senator Edwards Says G8 Leaders Must Stand Up to Russia
Iran Should Face U.N. Sanctions
April 30, 2006
Senator John Edwards closed Brussels Forum today by urging Americans and Europeans to work together on many of the major issues the three-day conference addressed. “It is Iran’s nuclear ambitions that pose the greatest single security threat to the United States and Europe,” Edwards said. “The international community must confront Iran with a clear choice: Give up your nuclear ambitions or suffer the consequences.”

Liberty, Equality, Hypocrisy?
In immigration and integration policies, panel says America and Europe stray from fundamental principles
April 30, 2006
In what became the most heated conversation at Brussels Forum, a diverse group of European and American politicians and academics agreed that European and American governmental failures to apply founding principles, like equality and liberty, when dealing with immigration and integration.

EU Commission President Barroso Calls for Cooperation on Energy, Trade
DaimlerChrysler and Monitor Group Chairmen Offer Suggestions
April 29, 2006
European Commission President José Manuel Barroso today said that relations between the European Union and the United States have improved on several levels, but that inevitable globalization make trade, energy, and democracy the foremost areas of concern.

American and European Leaders Want Improved Cooperation to Lead to Action on Iran, Sudan
April 29, 2006
An unusually frank and vibrant conversation took place today as four of the top transatlantic policy leaders debated responses to some of the most vexing challenges around the globe today — among them a nuclear Iran and genocide in Darfur.

Progress on Terrorism "Disappointing"
April 29, 2006
Four security experts participated in a dynamic discussion among themselves and with a congregation of high-level policymakers this afternoon at Brussels Forum: Transatlantic Challenges in a Global Era. “If we step back and ask ourselves as a transatlantic society, ‘How are we doing?’” said Jules Kroll, founder of Kroll, Inc. and Vice Chairman of Marsh, Inc. “I think the answer is extremely modest and very disappointing.” U.S. Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) pointed to progress in reform of American intelligence agencies.

U.S. Sen. McCain Urges Transatlantic Action on Crises around the Globe
Iran, Russia, Sudan identified as priorities for transatlantic alliance during inaugural Brussels Forum gathering
April 29, 2005
In a strongly worded speech touting transatlantic cooperation on a wide-ranging list of urgent global crises, U.S. Senator John McCain called on the United States and Europe to “define their policy not just by what we stand against, but also by what we stand for.” He delivered this message at the opening session of a new transatlantic meeting set to address a new set of global issues -- Brussels Forum: Transatlantic Challenges in a Global Era.

Transatlantic Energy Security Situation: Unreliable Supply, Unreasonable Cost

BRUSSELS (April 30, 2006) — In what Robin West, chairman of PFC Energy, called a problem of “unreliable supply at unreasonable cost,” the transatlantic community faces critical challenges on energy security, a broad group of American, Canadian, Turkish, and European discussants said today at Brussels Forum: Transatlantic Challenges in a Global Era .

A nuclear Iran, an obstinate Russia, an unstable Iraq, and troublesome politics in Nigeria and Venezuela all pose problems for keeping North American and European homes heated and cars running, said a group of expert discussants including General James L. Jones, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe; Andris Piebalgs, European Commissioner for Energy; Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay; Polish Defense Minister Radek Sikorski; and Egemen Bagis, a member of the Turkish Parliament and foreign policy advisor to Turkey’s prime minister.

But energy is more than just a transport issue; it also impacts politics. And it can mean nuclear power or oil, gas or coal. “Energy is one of those words, like love and finance,” West said. “It means different things to different people.”

“If one side uses the paradigm of trade and the other side has the paradigm of power…then it’s not hard to see who will prevail,” Sikorski said about Russia ’s control of the gas supply to Eastern Europe . “We want to buy the energy, but we don’t want monopolies, we don’t want blackmail.”

“We should get our good friends to accept third party access to the pipes… to give up the pipe monopoly,” said Andris Piebalgs, the European Commissioner for Energy.

Piebalgs noted that 44 percent of the world’s oil is consumed by the United States and Europe , which prompted MacKay, who joked about Canada ’s oft-overlooked international stature, to point out that his country is the second largest energy producer in the world. “I would suggest that we’re a better place to do business now than, say, Venezuela , or Iran , for example.”

Because energy production happens in some of the world’s trouble spots, NATO is a potential asset to protecting the energy supply to Europe and beyond. “NATO’s possible roles (to secure energy) include the defense of critical infrastructures,” Jones said.

And Turkey may also hold a key as a crucial link between the Middle East and Europe , a place for pipelines and shipping lines, Bagis said, adding that this infrastructural link would be good for an enlarged European Union that included Turkey .

In a larger discussion with the audience, West said an oil price of $125 per barrel is a definite possibility. The markets are very tight today, and a significant political or economic shock from one of the world’s producers could drive the price up. “We will survive,” Piebalgs said. “If it spikes, we can use our reserve systems.”

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Senator Edwards Says G8 Leaders Must Stand Up to Russia

Iran Should Face U.N. Sanctions

BRUSSELS (April 30, 2006) — Senator John Edwards closed Brussels Forum today by urging Americans and Europeans to work together on many of the major issues the three-day conference addressed. “It is Iran’s nuclear ambitions that pose the greatest single security threat to the United States and Europe,” Edwards said. “The international community must confront Iran with a clear choice: Give up your nuclear ambitions or suffer the consequences. Right now, this means UN Security Council action to impose sanctions.” While Americans must be willing “to engage the Iranian leadership directly,” Edwards said, Europeans must be willing “to impose meaningful sanctions.”

Much of the Brussels Forum debate throughout the weekend focused on Russia and Edwards drew on a recent Council on Foreign Relations project he co-chaired to say that “Russia is headed in the wrong direction.”

“The jury is still out whether Russia will stand with us on Iran,” Edwards said. “A more democratic Russia would not be on the fence regarding Iran. It would not be cracking down on dissent and a free press. It would not play host to Hamas. It would not work to kick the U.S. out of bases in Central Asia. It would not be using energy as a foreign policy weapon. It would not be supporting autocrats in Belarus or undermining democrats in Georgia and Ukraine.” Edwards said the G-8 summit in Russia this summer is a “huge test” for Russia and the leaders of other countries should raise their concerns about Russian policies there. “If our leaders don’t stand up for what they believe, then we need to consider seriously whether we should continue to have a G-8 at all.”

Edwards echoed Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt’s all from earlier in Brussels Forum for NATO reform and argued that the alliance should take on a more global role. “For example, NATO should step up to end the genocide in Sudan. It’s good that NATO has helped the African Union troops with logistics, support and training. But it has not stopped the killing.” He added that NATO should strengthen its ties with “countries like Ukraine and Georgia.”

In discussing an expanded role for NATO Edwards posited an expanded role for Israel that might actually end up in membership. “This could mean a closer strategic and operational relationship; it could mean more exchanges and planning cooperation; it could even someday mean membership.”

Touching upon a concern European’s commonly voice, European Parliament Member Erika Mann asked Edwards what he thought of the U.S. prison for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay. Naming Guantanamo, prison abuses in Iraq, and domestic spying in the U.S., Edwards said “these are all very troublesome things. They go to the heart of what America is supposed to represent…. I want America to be strong. But also to be moral and just.”

Brussels Forum is an annual high-level meeting of the most influential American and European political, corporate, and intellectual leaders to address pressing challenges currently facing both sides of the Atlantic. Heads of state, senior officials from the European Union institutions and the member states, a U.S. Senate delegation, and European Parliamentarians are among the 280 participants.

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Liberty, Equality, Hypocrisy?

In immigration and integration policies, panel says America and Europe stray from fundamental principles

BRUSSELS (April 30, 2006) — In what became the most heated conversation at Brussels Forum, a diverse group of European and American politicians and academics agreed that European and American governmental failures to apply founding principles, like equality and liberty, when dealing with immigration and integration.

Citing France, which saw rioting by immigrant youth last year, as an example, Princeton’s K. Anthony Appiah and the University of Paris-Sorbonne’s Patrick Weil chided Western governments’ failures to adapt their national identities with changing demographics.

Governments’ responses to integration back them away even more from their fundamental commitments to traditions of freedom and equality, Appiah said. Weil added that French universalism is often used as a camouflage for ethnocentrism.

The “education system for example does not meet this need; every school system in Europe has failed to tackle the immigration issue,” said Daniel Cohn-Bendit, a member of the European Parliament. But even before immigrants deal with the education system, the paperwork burden for legal status can be unduly heavy, according to Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D-CA).

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EU Commission President Barroso Calls for Cooperation on Energy, Trade

DaimlerChrysler and Monitor Group Chairmen Offer Suggestions

BRUSSELS (April 29, 2006) — European Commission President José Manuel Barroso today said that relations between the European Union and the United States have improved on several levels, but that inevitable globalization make trade, energy, and democracy the foremost areas of concern.

Opening the second day of Brussels Forum: Transatlantic Challenges in a Global Era, Barroso said energy is of central importance to the prosperity of the global economy, but that lately it has been used as an instrument of political corruption. Barroso said that by 2030, energy demand will rise by 60%, so the EU and US should lead in this field. “If the transatlantic market leads, the global economy will follow,” he said, adding that the U.S. and EU cannot exhibit “narrow-minded chauvinism” when it comes to protectionism and globalization.

Gunter Thielen, CEO of Bertelsmann AG, who introduced Barroso, emphasized the shortcomings of the European national economies. Research and development, entrepreneurship, and innovation should be promoted, he said, and Europe should be an economic benchmark.

Barroso, who also spoke about security, said the U.S. and EU have a shared responsibility for the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization, and that includes the need for an ambitious but realistic outcome for all 149 members.

In the following session, DaimlerChrysler Chairman Dieter Zetsche called for economic reform, and said European and U.S. business must increase their competitiveness in the face of globalization. In reference to recent layoffs in the U.S. auto industry, Zetsche said, “If we don’t get it right, the European auto industry will be facing—in less than a decade—an upheaval every bit as chaotic and destructive as that hitting the American auto industry right now.”

Zetsche called for companies and unions to work together to reduce costs, as he said his company had already done, by creating “a leaner, more flexible and effective organization…. In a global environment, you simply have to accomplish more with less.”

Governments are also responsible for enhancing competitiveness, Zetsche said, in particular through multilateral efforts to remove trade barriers to imports in countries that export manufactured goods to Europe and the U.S., such as Japan and Korea. “Globalization requires a level playing field,” Zetsche said. “Hidden non-tariff barriers must be knocked down once and for all. When you have a highly competitive market, as we in Europe and America, some growth has to come in other international markets.”

Mark Fuller, Chairman of the Monitor Group, followed Zetsche’s comments with a discussion of the importance of competitiveness on a microeconomic level. An “iron triangle” of investments in three areas—specialized human assets, R&D processes, and entrepreneurship—by groups in the public and private sector will prepare developed economies to compete in the global marketplace. “Creating new companies is the single best thing you can do to ensure you have a competitive economy,” Fuller said, adding that Europe lags behind the U.S. in that area.

Companies must be able to compete with their counterparts in the developing world, Fuller said. As today “all industries are high-tech industries,” the creation of knowledge-based industries will allow developed economies to compete. “People, knowledge, and entrepreneurship flourish in high quality of life, environmentally friendly places.”

EU Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry Günter Verheugen said that the pain of making economies more competitive “is always local,” and in Europe would be born more by national governments than policymakers on the EU level. This “pain of change” must be explained to citizens by national politicians, he said.

During a question and answer session, panel participants agreed that policymakers must make more use of existing transatlantic frameworks for multilateral cooperation. As Fuller said, “unilateral actions by government are unlikely to enhance competitiveness in a sustainable way.”

Brussels Forum is an annual high-level meeting of the most influential American and European political, corporate, and intellectual leaders to address pressing challenges currently facing both sides of the Atlantic. Heads of state, senior officials from the European Union institutions and the member states, a U.S. Senate delegation, and European Parliamentarians are among the 280 participants.

Today, the United States and Europe are striving to deepen transatlantic cooperation on a vast array of distinctly new, global challenges from fostering the growth of democracy to confronting pandemics and terrorism, yet there is no single transatlantic forum focused on this broad and increasingly complex global agenda. Brussels Forum provides a venue for the transatlantic community to address these pressing issues.

The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) has launched the inaugural Brussels Forum in partnership with the Bertelsmann Stiftung as a key intellectual partner, the DaimlerChrysler Corporation Fund, the Federal Government of Belgium and the Government of Brussels-Capital Region, and the Monitor Group.

Global Competition: Challenges to the Private and Public Sectors?

American and European Leaders Want Improved Cooperation to Lead to Action on Iran, Sudan

BRUSSELS (April 29, 2006) — An unusually frank and vibrant conversation took place today as four of the top transatlantic policy leaders debated responses to some of the most vexing challenges around the globe today — among them a nuclear Iran and genocide in Darfur.

Javier Solana, Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union; Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, NATO Secretary-General; U.S. Senator John McCain; and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke all agreed on the threat to regional and global security Iran presents but differed on the mechanisms to handle the threat. Solana demurred on whether the European Union would join a “coalition of the willing” in Iran . McCain said that all options remain on the table, including a military option after other options have been exhausted. (A transcript is posted on the Brussels Forum Web site at http://www.gmfus.org/brusselsforum.)

Problems in Sudan also loomed large for the discussants, who decried the lack of action. “Look, we all know what needs to be done,” McCain said. “We need more troops. We need better logistic support. We need more pressure put on the Sudanese government. We need, I mean we could draw up a laundry list in five minutes of what needs to be done. We are not doing it. We are not doing it, and it’s shameful that we’re not doing it. Today, thousands of people will die; others will be slaughtered.”

Holbrooke added, “These are bureaucratic words while people are dying.” Between the African Union, the EU, NATO, and the UN, “there has been a buck-passing.” Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said NATO is “ready and willing to do more, but the political climate has to be there.”

On the working level of transatlantic relations, and between the EU and NATO, all agreed that things have improved, including daily contact between Brussels and Washington , and within Brussels . “Don’t say the EU and NATO don’t get along,” Solana said, citing dinners he regularly holds with the NATO Secretary-General. “We work together. It’s not a beauty contest.”

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Progress on Terrorism “Disappointing”

BRUSSELS (April 29, 2006) — Four security experts participated in a dynamic discussion among themselves and with a congregation of high-level policymakers this afternoon at Brussels Forum: Transatlantic Challenges in a Global Era.

“If we step back and ask ourselves as a transatlantic society, ‘How are we doing?’” said Jules Kroll, founder of Kroll, Inc. and Vice Chairman of Marsh, Inc. “I think the answer is extremely modest and very disappointing.”

U.S. Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) pointed to progress in reform of American intelligence agencies. “We’ve made it possible for the FBI and the CIA to talk.” Issa, an Arab-American, said that to forgo racial profiling would be a waste of money in the fight against terrorism. “Of course you profile,” Issa said. “There’s no question we’re looking predominantly for people linked to Islam.” However, just “profiling leaves you with a huge vulnerability.”

CNN correspondent David Ensor, who served as moderator, engaged the panelists and other participants in a discussion of how to treat captured terrorists, in particular those held by the U.S. at Guantanamo Bay. A majority of attendees said they would shut the prison there and let the alleged terrorists go. Sir Richard Dearlove, the former chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service, said “the methodology used in the United States is a very practical reflection of the difficulties” in “collecting human intelligence on terrorist movements” — intelligence that quickly becomes out-of-date after a suspect is in custody.

Ensor asked Sir Richard what he would do if he had suspected Al Quaeda mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in custody, as the U.S. does. “As a professional, I would have wanted undisturbed access over a long period of time,” Dearlove said. “With no defense attorney present?” Ensor asked. “That would not be possible in the United Kingdom,” Dearlove said.

The experts identified mistakes governments have made in the fight against terrorism. Kroll said resources had been misallocated: “Eighty-percent of the money has been spent at airports; that was yesterday’s problem,” Kroll said. “I think the ports are no more or no less vulnerable than anywhere else.” Overall, the experts said, the U.S. and European governments have not made enough progress in eliminating the causes of terrorism. “This is an ‘anti-’ movement so broad that there is no one thing we can do to stop it,” Issa said. “I’m most afraid of us permanently losing the momentum to make this world better because we spend too many resources on a small group that means us harm.”

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U.S. Sen. McCain Urges Transatlantic Action on Crises around the Globe

Iran, Russia, Sudan identified as priorities for transatlantic alliance during inaugural Brussels Forum gathering

BRUSSELS (April 28, 2006) — In a strongly worded speech touting transatlantic cooperation on a wide-ranging list of urgent global crises, U.S. Senator John McCain called on the United States and Europe to “define their policy not just by what we stand against, but also by what we stand for.” He delivered this message at the opening session of a new transatlantic meeting set to address a new set of global issues — Brussels Forum: Transatlantic Challenges in a Global Era.

“Whether we turn our attention to the regime in Iran, the displaced in Sudan, troops under NATO command in Afghanistan, or to our own citizens, individuals everywhere look to the United States and Europe for unity and leadership,” McCain told a gathering of American and European political, business, and thought leaders gathered for Brussels Forum.

Pointing out major concerns for the transatlantic alliance, McCain singled out Iran saying, “An Iran emboldened by a nuclear arsenal and the missile systems to deliver weapons would feel unconstrained to sponsor even more deadly terrorist attacks.” He went further to say that an unchecked Iran could lead to a Middle East arms race, “Iran’s moves could induce Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and others to reassess their defense posture and arsenal.”

While he praised the efforts of the EU3 — France, Germany, and Britain — he called on the UN Security Council to apply sanctions on investment, travel, and assets on Iran’s leaders and nuclear scientists. “The nuclear danger reaches beyond the possibility of terrorism,” he said, noting that the Iranian president’s “messianic impulses are cause for grave worry.” In an ominous warning, he reminded the audience of Europe’s own painful history with a dangerous dictator. “In the 1930s too few took at face value a dictator’s threats to destroy peoples and countries, and the world paid a terrible price.”

Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, who introduced McCain, called for NATO reform. He offered a three point plan for transformation of the institution. First, he said NATO should become a genuine partnership based on two pillars, an American pillar and a European pillar. Second, it should “streamline its current imbroglio of cooperation agreements, partners, and contact countries into a genuine Global Security Network.” Finally, it should act as a “Security Forum” capable of dialogue with outside organizations such as the African Union and ASEAN.

In his speech, McCain added that NATO should be expanded to provide logistical and communications support for peacekeeping forces, and the allies should look at NATO enforcement of a no-fly zone over Darfur, a place that needs a similar transatlantic commitment as the one in the Balkans in the last decade.

“Just as ethnic cleansing in the Balkans cried out for transatlantic action in the 1990s, so today does genocide clamor for our attention,” McCain said. “We need to be blunt — to stop the killing and expedite the return of over 2 million displaced Darfurians requires us to act. If we do not, the pledge of ‘never again’ will once more ring hollow.”

Pointing the spotlight on another potential threat to stability, McCain turned to Russia’s troubling domestic and foreign policies. “The Kremlin pursues greater autocracy at home and undermines democracy abroad. It appears to define affairs in the Black Sea region and Central Asia in 19th century zero-sum terms.”

Introducing the event, German Marshall Fund President Craig Kennedy cited Brussels’ history as a historic center of European liberalism. “This is a place where ideas have been created,” he said.

Javier Solana, the Security General of the European Council and the European Union’s High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, gave brief remarks at dinner.

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Brussels Forum is an annual high-level meeting of the most influential American and European political, corporate, and intellectual leaders to address pressing challenges currently facing both sides of the Atlantic. Heads of state, senior officials from the European Union institutions and the member states, a U.S. Senate delegation, and European Parliamentarians are among the 280 participants. It strives to deepen transatlantic cooperation on a vast array of distinctly new, global challenges from fostering the growth of democracy to confronting pandemics and terrorism. Brussels Forum provides a venue for the transatlantic community to address these pressing issues.

The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) has launched the inaugural Brussels Forum in partnership with the Bertelsmann Stiftung as a key intellectual partner, the DaimlerChrysler Corporation Fund, the Federal Government of Belgium and the Government of Brussels-Capital Region, and the Monitor Group.