During the Spring and early Summer semesters, EEMI conducted two webinars with senior European Commission officials as part of its ongoing efforts to strengthen GW’s partnership with the European Union. The main thrust of the partnership is to augment efforts in the related areas of climate change and energy security, both of which are top policy areas for the U.S. and the European Union.
Our first webinar was conducted on February 17, 2022, in the EEMI offices in Tompkins Hall with Daniel Calleja on the topic “Challenges Facing the EU and Why it Matters to the US.” Mr. Calleja is the Director-General of Legal Services for the European Commission. 
Mr. Calleja outlined his overall strategic vision to develop a working relationship between GW, the European Union and other pan-European countries to promote worldwide sustainability, including energy security and response to the global climate change challenge.
In a follow up survey to the webinar, audience members evaluated the session at close to 5.0 on a 5-point scale. The following comments were representative of more than 100 received:
- I thought Daniel’s substance and mastery of the content, as well as his presentation, was spot-on given the interrelated challenges of our times. Thanks for hosting him!
- Observing the spirit of co-operation, in service of preserving democracy and the rule of law, in Europe and the US as well.
- Role of supporting democracy and the rule of law in the Transatlantic alliance
- Hearing a barriers-down discussion of the future of EU optimization in a world with America's continual improvement as historical fact.
- Learning more about the structure and programmatic focus of the EU
Calleja Webinar (l-r) Dr. Saltzberg, Mr. Calleja, Amb. Simonyi, Dr. Deason
A recording of the webinar can be seen at the following link: Challenges Facing the EU and Why it Matters to the US webinar recording
Our second EC webinar of the season was conducted on June 17, 2022 with Anthony Agotha, the Senior Diplomatic Advisor to EC Executive Vice President Frans Timmermans, headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. Mr. Agotha is a Dutch citizen who has served in a series of high-level diplomatic positions in the Dutch Foreign Ministry, and the European Commission. He studied Public Administration/Political Science at the University of Twente and wrote his Master’s thesis on President Reagan’s defense budget at UNC Chapel Hill as a visiting scholar in 1995.
During the webinar, which attracted more than 300 registrants, Mr. Agotha discussed key trends and lessons learned in pricing the external cost of carbon emissions, costs that are borne worldwide due to human-induced climate change. His presentation included observations about the volatility of energy prices worldwide and disruptions of traditional supplies of energy, while at the same time that the need to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions has become increasingly pressing.
A recording of the webinar can be seen at the following link: webinar recording