The Atlantic Council and Atlantik-Brücke will host the Transatlantic Forum on GeoEconomics: A New Anchor for the US-European Partnership on September 30, 2025. This is the fourth convening of the Forum, hosted by the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center and Europe Center and the Atlantik-Brücke, which will gather senior policymakers, business leaders, and experts in Brussels to reimagine US-European coordination and cooperation at the nexus of trade, national security, and technology.
This conference will take place one year into European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s renewed mandate and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s term. It will feature senior representatives from the Trump administration and private-sector leaders from both sides of the Atlantic.
The objective of this year’s forum is to anchor the US-European relationship, which is beset by headwinds including division over the war in Ukraine, trade tensions, and disagreements over the future of defense and military spending.
The conference will also discuss the following topics:
- Triangulating on trade
- Transatlantic AI and competitiveness
- Funding European defense
- The dollar and the euro
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Agenda
Agenda will be updated as we finalize programming.
8:00 a.m. | Registration and breakfast
8:45 a.m. | Opening remarks
Sigmar Gabriel, Former Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister of Germany | Chairman, Atlantik-Brücke
Fred Kempe, President and Chief Executive Officer, Atlantic Council
9:00 a.m. | Triangulating on trade: The way forward after Scotland
Moderated panel discussion exploring the current trade conflicts, related to tariffs and deficits, and interdependencies between the US, China, and the EU.
Speakers to be announced soon.
10:00 a.m. | Points of vulnerability: Rare earths, semiconductors, and energy
Moderated panel discussion examining strategic supply chain vulnerabilities — ranging from semiconductors to rare earths, critical minerals, clean energy components, and steel.
Speakers to be announced soon.
12:00 a.m. | Funding European defense: The path to five percent
Moderated panel discussion covering how to leverage far more sources of private capital compared to public state funding when it comes to investing into defense industry capabilities of R&D and production.
Speakers to be announced soon.
1:00 a.m. | Lunch and breakout sessions
Topics and speakers to be announced soon.
2:00 p.m. | Keynote conversation with Valdis Dombrovskis
Speech and fireside chat outlining Europe’s geoeconomic strategy with a special focus on productivity and competitiveness.
Valdis Dombrovskis, Commissioner for Economy and Productivity, European Commission
3:00 p.m. | Innovation versus regulation: A transatlantic AI race
Moderated panel discussion exploring how the U.S. and Europe are approaching AI governance, the impact on competitiveness, and what’s at stake in the global race to lead in emerging technologies.
Speakers to be announced soon.
4:00 p.m. | The Euro’s global moment: Why this time is different
Moderated panel discussion analyzing whether we observe a significant shift in the relationship between the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency and the Euro as important, but limited currency, especially due to the lack of a capital market union.
Speakers to be announced soon.
5:00 p.m. | Closing remarks
Wrapping up the fourth Transatlantic Forum, the first in the European capital, and looking ahead to edition five which will take place in the US.
Jörn Fleck, Senior Director, Europe Center, Atlantic Council
Julia Friedlander, Chief Executive Officer, Atlantik-Brücke
Josh Lipsky, Chair of International Economics and Senior Director, GeoEconomics Center, Atlantic Council
Related content
See key highlights from our past forums in New York, Frankfurt, and Berlin.
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Strengthening the exchange between politics and business, Atlantik-Brücke aims to deepen cooperation between Germany, Europe and America on all levels.
At the intersection of economics, finance, and foreign policy, the GeoEconomics Center is a translation hub with the goal of helping shape a better global economic future.
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