President José Maria Gil-Robles opened the conference alongside Jacqueline Grapin, founding president of the European Institute in Washington D.C., who is the Foundation’s partner in organizing the conference. This follows a first seminar organised by the two institutions in Washington last April.
The symposium brought together many American, European and Swiss experts on the campus of the University of Lausanne – several of whom are members of the Foundation’s Board – to discuss the issue of Euro-American solidarity in a multipolar world. The speakers who crossed the Atlantic for this occasion were, in addition to Jacqueline Grapin, Barry Machado, who represented the George Marshall Foundation, Catherine Guisan, Robert Hunter, Sophie Meunier and Michael Scardaville.
The conference was expected to be intense, particularly thanks to a historical perspective and various themes through which the state of relations between Europe and the United States was assessed, whether in geostrategic, security and defence, monetary matters or scientific research. Some issues were of particular relevance, such as the ongoing negotiations on the transatlantic partnership on trade and investment, or the wiretapping issue that has been in the news in recent months.
The discussions were particularly enlightened by personalities who, through their current or past activities, have been a key actor or witness in transatlantic relations in their field of competence.
The symposium was attended by Mr Pierre Vimont, Secretary General of the European External Action Service. Friday was crowned by a literally masterful conference by this former French ambassador to Washington, who is now the right-hand man of Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
In his speech entitled The Transatlantic Relationship in the Face of Global Challenges, Pierre Vimont acknowledged the current doubts surrounding this relationship, while stressing that it remained relevant and promising for the future, given the shared values and interests on both sides of the Atlantic.
The proceedings of the conference (which was held in French and English) will be published in French in the collection of the Foundation’s Cahiers rouges, co-published with Editions Economica in Paris.
The event was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), the University of Lausanne and Union Bancaire Privée, UBP SA.
