Agenda

As indicated in its 10-point, 10-year Action Plan for Strengthening Transatlantic Partnership, TPN's agenda for the coming years is to promote and support actions to complete a transatlantic market linked to a strengthened political and security relationship adapted to the needs of the 21st century. To accomplish this, TPN believes that the EU and US will need to adapt the existing transatlantic institutional framework to take account of the evolution of our common purposes and priorities, allowing issues to drive the framework, rather than the other way around.

TPN has proposed, with support from Resolutions taken by the European Parliament and the US House of Representatives, that EU and US leaders come to agreement on the major elements of a new, formal “Transatlantic Partnership Agreement.” Such an agreement would build on the 1995 New Transatlantic Agenda and reflect proposals made in TPN's Strategy to Strengthen Transatlantic Partnership. As part of this process, TPN would like EU and US leaders to:

•  focus the annual EU-US summit process to provide strategic direction and impetus to the transatlantic partnership, and develop communications with the NATO summit process as well

•  institute regular informal EU-US consultation at ministerial level in advance of EU-US summits, supported by permanent joint policy planning

•  strengthen the institutional structure for ongoing transatlantic political dialogue, building on the evolving Transatlantic Legislators Dialogue (TLD) between Members of the European Parliament and the US Congress, possibly into a Transatlantic Assembly.

All members have been encouraged to participate in a process that has gathered steady momentum in the past few years, and is increasingly focused on global challenges facing the transatlantic partners. Task Force meetings in Europe and the US discuss ideas and put forward proposals for adding political and economic substance to the Transatlantic Partnership while also dealing with the substantive issues and problems associated with cooperation between the EU and NATO.

As before, this internal debate is enriched by research and background papers produced by the academic institutions cooperating with TPN.