On June 6, at Pfizer’s headquarters in New York City, USCIB joined with the American Chambers of Commerce in Europe, a confederation of all the AmChams in the region, and the American Business Forum on Europe to hold a roundtable on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and what is at stake for business.
On May 10, USCIB submitted a report on TTIP to the U.S. Trade Representative’s office detailing recommended negotiating objectives in a variety of areas. Click here to download a copy.
The meeting was opened by Richard Blackburn, Pfizer’s vice president of international public affairs, USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson and Jake Slegers, chair of AmChams in Europe.
The event featured two panel discussions providing perspectives on the upcoming negotiations from both sides of the Atlantic. The first featured Susan Danger, managing director of the AmCham EU in Brussels, and Rob Mulligan, USCIB’s senior vice president for policy and government affairs. Danger described how European business is organizing itself to advocate for the TTIP, and stressed the importance of complementary activity on the U.S. and European sides throughout the negotiations.
Mulligan provided a snapshot of how USCIB is working alongside fellow business groups in Washington to set up the Business Coalition for Transatlantic Trade and cited examples of some common themes on regulatory cooperation issues the business community is already communicating to governments. Country-specific outlooks were provided by Marina Niforos, managing director of AmCham France, and Joanne Richardson, chief executive of AmCham Ireland.
The second panel delved into the details of what specific industries are looking for in the TTIP. Dontai Smalls, vice president of corporate public affairs with UPS, and Doug Goudie, director of international government relations at Pfizer spoke on behalf of their companies. Both agreed that while the TTIP will be a challenge to navigate in several key areas, including regulatory matters and intellectual property protected, the benefits derived from the deal will create jobs and opportunities on both sides of the Atlantic. The business community should therefore keep up outreach to governments, to build momentum and ensure a successful conclusion.
The roundtable also saw the launch of the 2013 Case for Investing in Europe, by Joseph Quinlan, economist at Bank of America. Quinlan spoke about the current climate for investing in the European market and stressed that it is as strong as ever. The launch of the report was complemented by a case study presentation on investing in Europe by Salvatore Gabola, director for European public affairs with The Coca-Cola Company.
The event was attended by more than 70 members of the business, diplomatic and policy communities. USCIB looks forward to working with the AmChams in Europe and AmCham EU in sharing information and coordinating business views during the TTIP negotiations.
Click here for photos from the event.
Staff contacts: Rob Mulligan and Justine Badimon
