Friends of Europe

A well connected lobby group whose Secretary General is lobbyist Giles Merritt

In June 2005 Friends of Europea ran and 'Atlantic Rendez-Vous Satellite Debate' titled 'After the EU-US Summit: Where do we go from here? Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - Brussels/Washington DC'

The guest list shows the connections of Merritt and ther Friends of Europe. Of significance is the presence of John Houston of lobby firm Houston Consulting Europe along with several of his financial service clients.

Programme

[1] Registration 14:30 - 15:00 Session I: How many EU – US fences still need mending? 15:00 - 16:00 Moderator: Pat Cox & Giles Merritt (Brussels), Esther Brimmer (Washington, DC) Speakers: Ronald D. Asmus , Executive Director of the Transatlantic Center, Brussels , German Marshall Fund of the United States Robert A. Bradtke , Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs , US Department of State Roger Cohen , Journalist , The New York Times Michael Leigh , Deputy Director General for Europe & Central Asia, Near & Middle East, Southern Mediterranean , European Commission, DG External Relations Erika Mann , Member, Committee on Industry, Research and Energy , European Parliament Richard Wright , Director North America , European Commission Coffee break 16:00 - 16:15 Session II: Does the transatlantic economy need a new US-EU deal on governance? 16:15 - 17:15 Moderator: Pat Cox & Giles Merritt (Brussels), Esther Brimmer (Washington, DC) Speakers: Pervenche Berès , Chairwoman , European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs Don Bonker , Executive Vice-President , APCO John Bruton , Head of the Delegation , Delegation of the European Commission to the United States Peter Chase , Director of the Office of European Union and Regional Affairs , U.S.Department of State Matthias Ruete , Director in charge of coordination for competitiveness , European Commission, Directorate General Enterprise and Industry Coffee break 17:15 - 17:30 Session III: How free is the transatlantic market in financial services? 17:30 - 18:30 Moderator: John Houston (Brussels), Esther Brimmer (Washington, DC) Speakers: Paul Arlman , Secretary General , Federation of European Securities Exchanges Don Bonker , Executive Vice-President , APCO Worldwide Wilbur Monroe , Deputy Director of the Office of International Banking and Securities Markets , U.S. Department of the Treasury Ieke van den Burg MEP , Member, Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs , European Parliament David Wright , Director of Financial Markets , European Commission Networking Cocktail 18:30 - 19:30