Transatlantic Security Symposium - 15. ed.

The Transatlantic Symposium 2023-24 has reflected upon the trends and geopolitical implications of transatlantic economic policies and cooperation on technology development and governance.

The project has had a fourfold purpose:

(i) Frame and analyse threats and risk factors, including long-term ones, arising from the geopoliticisation of the economy, with particular attention to the trade and investment sector in the perspective of transatlantic cooperation.

(ii) Analyze and compare trade and investment policies adopted at the national, European, and US levels to identify common trends and areas of divergence. In doing so, a distinction will be made between proactive and defensive policies.

(iii) Analyse opportunities for transatlantic cooperation in crucial sectors for Europe and Italy. In particular, two illustrative areas of criticality and opportunities for transatlantic cooperation will be explored: emerging technologies and data governance – an area where contrasts and divergences between the US and the EU can be attributed in part to different interests and partly to different strategic conceptions; and transformations of supply chains and the resulting initiatives aimed at ensuring greater resilience through near- or friend-shoring.

(iv) Foster dialogue on project themes among European and American experts and officials from the foreign ministries of key European countries (starting, of course, with Italy), the United States, the EU, and NATO.

The analysis of approaches and policies of the US and the EU in these sectors, along with their related issues, have formed the basis of a comparative examination aimed at identifying points of convergence and divergence in strategic objectives and the instruments adopted to pursue them.

The Transatlantic Symposium was held on 22 April 2024 at the premises of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) in Rome.

Funding: MAECI, Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo and US Embassy to Italy