News

For our last ‘Town Hall’ for members, AmCham EU connected with Peter Beyer, Member and Coordinator of Transatlantic Cooperation, German Bundestag.

 

During the meeting, Peter shared his insights on the COVID-19 emergency and its impact on the EU as well as on the EU-US relationship. He stressed that the COVID-19 outbreak showed the fragility of cross-border cooperation in times of crisis and the need for a stronger and more united EU. According to him, stronger competences at the EU level are needed to allow for an effective response to the crisis, especially with regard to its economic impact. Peter noted that the extent to which the EU will be able to do that depends on the willingness of the Member States which are still very divided with regard to the economic recovery plan. 

 

As for the impact on the EU-US relationship, Peter indicated that the pandemic showed the need for more intensified transatlantic cooperation. Being natural allies, he added, the EU and the US need to start discussing a free trade agreement without further delay.   

On Thursday, 11 June, AmCham EU hosted a security, defence and space edition of the American Hour, members only series and welcomed Gordon B. (Skip) Davis, Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Defence Investment at NATO. Roger Coelho, Senior Policy Director, AmCham EU provided opening remarks and the fireside chat was moderated by Rudy Priem (Raytheon Technologies), Chair, Security, Defence and Space Committee. Susan Danger, CEO, AmCham EU, closed the session.

 

The guest speaker gave an overview of NATO's efforts to combat COVID-19 so as to prevent the health crisis from becoming a security crisis and to ensure that NATO can continue to provide effective deterrence and defence. Some of the support that NATO has provided to civil authorities includes: setting up a crisis response team to coordinate and respond to requests from allies and partners, supporting regular information sharing, collection of best practices, building hospitals and providing strategic airlift for logistic support and for transporting critical medical equipment, personnel and patients. NATO has also worked together with the EU and the EU’s European Response Coordination Center to exchange information, provide logistic support and coordinate efforts, as well as on communication efforts to address the spread of disinformation which has targeted both NATO and the EU.

AmCham EU and Junior Achievement Europe (JA Europe) are delighted to announce the finalists of the 2020 Youth Entrepreneurship Award. Candidates from across Europe were in the running for the award after participating in a JA Europe programme, making it past the initial start-up phase and creating a business concept that showed potential. The theme this year focused on female entrepreneurship.

 

The shortlisted start-ups pitched their companies to a high-level jury panel during an online finale on Thursday, 11 June. 

 

The five outstanding finalists are Kirija Kandiah, Sara Green Brodersen, Cécilia Mzayek, Stéphanie Roland and Dominika Podolanová. 

On Thursday, 4 June, AmCham EU’s Healthcare Committee hosted an online debate on its report 'Life Sciences in Europe – An integrated strategy for healthcare innovation (2019-2024)'. The panellists discussed the importance of building the resistance of health systems in Europe following the COVID-19 outbreak. A video recording of the event is available here. 

 

The event was opened by Susan Danger, CEO, AmCham EU. She spoke about the importance of the life sciences sector and its role in Europe’s economic recovery.

It is with the utmost sadness that we announce the sudden death of Roderick ‘Rory’ Macmillan. Rory was a valued member of AmCham EU for more than 20 years. He was also well known and highly respected in wider Brussels EU circles. Importantly, he was a dear friend and colleague to many of us and he will be sorely missed. Many of our lives have been enriched by his friendship and supported by his professional dedication.  

 

A private service will take place in line with current UK government COVID restrictions. A fitting memorial service to celebrate Rory’s life will take place at a future date to be finalised. Those who would have liked to attend, but due to the current restrictions cannot, are invited to make a donation. Instead of flowers, you are kindly invited to make a donation to one of Rory’s favourite charities as listed here: World Child Cancer and the Belgium Alzheimer Association.

On Friday, 29 May 2020, Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, European Commission was the guest speaker at an online event organised by AmCham Bulgaria. Susan Danger, CEO, AmCham EU provided welcome remarks in her capacity as Chair of AmChams in Europe.

Commissioner Gabriel spoke about the importance of cross-country cooperation as well as the need for synergy and upskilling. She also outlined the required next steps that will allow Europe to successfully tackle the current COVID-19 crisis. We would like to thank Petar T. Ivanov, CEO, AmCham Bulgaria and Olivier Marquette, President, AmCham Bulgaria for hosting the event.

Last week, the European Commission presented an ambitious recovery plan for the EU economy but a tough balancing act remains in front of us. American companies in Europe support the Commission’s proposal. Read our full statement here.

 

To further show our support, we have also published sector-by-sector recommendations to ensure that Europe does not stall on its road to recovery.

Susan Danger, CEO, AmCham EU breaks down the key messages in the paper and outlines the need for a coordinated response, watch her video and read our recommendations for the details. 

On Wednesday, 27 May, the European Commission presented an ambitious recovery plan, including a new instrument ‘Next Generation EU’ to boost the EU’s spending capacity. The American Chamber of Commerce to the EU (AmCham EU) fully supports the Commission’s proposal which aims to tackle the ripple effects of the COVID-19 crisis on the European economy. AmCham EU calls on Member States to endorse the Commission’s proposal.

 

In addition to an unparalleled financial commitment, the recovery plan outlines strong policy measures to strengthen the Single Market as well as to enable the green and digital transformations. It has the potential to be one of the engines that will restart Europe’s economy, creating new jobs and prosperity to benefit all citizens.

In recognition of the importance of the arts and young people in the arts, AmCham EU is a long-time supporter of the Queen Elisabeth Competition. The competition is for musicians who have completed their training and who rank as being of the highest calibre.

 

While, this year, the event has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Queen Elisabeth Competition will still be under the spotlight from Monday, 25 to Saturday, 30 May thanks to the support of Radio-Télévision Belge de la Communauté Française (RTBF) and Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT). You can listen to numerous radio broadcasts, retransmissions of previous competitions and even an exceptional evening of live performances at the Brussels Centre for Fine Arts (BOZAR). Find out all the details in French or Dutch on the Queen Elisabeth Competition website.