Thought & Achievement

TPN Staffers Network

Thought & Achievement

Since the early 1990s, TPN has been working to strengthen both political and economic ties between the European Union and the United States. A briefing note setting out how it has built up the Network can be viewed with this briefing note. Over this period, TPN has steadfastly pursued its objectives, often through key documents being formulated during this period of nearly 30 years.

The first report it published was in the autumn of 1994, with clear ideas of how to develop the EU/US partnership. This report was presented by one of its Chairmen to the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs encouraging him to take the initiative of creating the New Transatlantic Agenda (NTA) under the Spanish EU Presidency in the second half of 1995. It was entitled ‘Toward Transatlantic Partnership: A European Strategy’.

Two further reports followed during the 1990s. One was published in late 1995, encouraging Transatlantic leaders to go ahead with the New Transatlantic Agenda while the other in 1998 built on the first two reports with more specific recommendations for deepening the EU/US Partnership in the longer term.

Following on from the turn of the century and the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York, TPN decided to focus its attention on a more specific agenda. relevant to both politicians and business across the Atlantic – the Transatlantic Market. As early as 2003, the TPN called for the completion of the Transatlantic market. Finding that there was some response to this appeal, the TPN commissioned a series of reports set out below between 2007 and 2013. Collectively, they helped provide substantial justification for the finalisation of a US-EU High Level Working Group on Jobs and Growth in February 2013. This was the inception of the TTIP process.

With the demise of TTIP, the TPN has now decided to look forward over the next decade to 2030 in order to see how the priorities of the Transatlantic partners might evolve and identify the key issues where they will be better working together. This process is now well underway (see the TA Vision 2030 menu at the top of this page).

Selected archival documents:  

*Only the foreword to a report.