All in-depth research & reports

Issue Brief

Oct 18, 2023

Designing a US-EU industrial and trade policy 

By Erik Brattberg, Frances Burwell, Jörn Fleck, Charles Lichfield, Zach Meyers, James Batchik, and Emma Nix

Both sides of the Atlantic are confronting the geopolitical necessity of adapting trade and industrial policies to be fit for purpose in an increasingly competitive world. To avoid competition between Washington and Brussels, policymakers must recognize each side’s priorities and commit to further cooperation to bridge the transatlantic economic relationship, not widen it.

Economy & Business Energy & Environment

Report

Oct 16, 2023

How to strike a grand bargain on EU nuclear energy policy

By Ben Judah, Rachel Rizzo, Théophile Pouget-Abadie, Jonah Allen, Francis Shin

The EU currently faces an internal dispute over nuclear energy. To resolve this, the EU must commit to allowing each member to pursue its own energy mix, recognize nuclear energy as a crucial part of Europe’s existing energy mix, and adopting a technology-neutral approach to the implementation of the GDIP and NZIA.

Energy Markets & Governance European Union
Solar panels are pictured.

In-Depth Research & Reports

Sep 6, 2023

Policy memo: A NATO-style spending target could fund long-term decarbonization

By Ben Judah, Francis Shin, Rachel Rizzo, Théophile Pouget-Abadie

EU member states and like-minded allies should set national-level spending targets, each based on a percentage of their respective annual GDPs, for decarbonization-related purposes. This would provide the basis of an international coalition that would ramp up global climate spending and set a useful benchmark to anchor high-level diplomatic discussions on the subject.

Climate Change & Climate Action European Union

Issue Brief

Jun 20, 2023

More than adequate: New directions in international data transfer governance

By Kenneth Propp

What is the future for transatlantic and international data transfer mechanisms? Can existing efforts achieve greater policy coherence across the global ecosystem?

Digital Policy Economy & Business

Issue Brief

Apr 20, 2023

The US-EU Trade and Technology Council: Assessing the record on data and technology issues

By Frances Burwell and Andrea G. Rodríguez

The TTC must keep its forward-looking gaze, but also take steps to address challenging regulatory issues, either by oversight or direct discussion, or it will lose the essential support among stakeholders that can keep US engagement in the TTC alive.

Digital Policy Economy & Business

Report

Jan 24, 2023

Authoritarian kleptocrats are thriving on the West’s failures. Can they be stopped?

By Francis Shin, Ben Judah

A new, more dangerous form of kleptocracy has arisen since the end of the Cold War, and the transatlantic community—hobbled by outdated, cliched images of what kleptocracy looks like, and by siloed, reactive regulatory and enforcement systems—isn’t equipped to handle it. A Transatlantic Anti-Corruption Council could coordinate anti-corruption reforms.

Corruption Economic Sanctions

Issue Brief

Jan 6, 2023

How allied Sweden and Finland can secure Northern Europe 

By Anna Wieslander, Eric Adamson, Jesper Lehto

NATO is approaching its ninth round of enlargement. The accession of Sweden and Finland—two solid democracies and defenders of the international-rules based order—into the Alliance will strengthen the core of the transatlantic community.

Defense Policy NATO

Report

Nov 2, 2022

Digital sovereignty in practice: The EU’s push to shape the new global economy

By Frances Burwell, Kenneth Propp

What does the European Union’s push for “digital sovereignty” mean in practice? Frances Burwell and Ken Propp provide an update to digital sovereignty and its transatlantic impacts.

Digital Policy Economy & Business

Issue Brief

Oct 31, 2022

Engaging the Pacific Islands is no longer about the why, but about the how

By Marie Jourdain, Charles Lichfield

Over the past year, US and European engagement in the South Pacific has noticeably accelerated. Wooing these islands away from Chinese influence is clearly a priority but there are many dimensions to this.

Indo-Pacific Security & Defense

In-Depth Research & Reports

Aug 31, 2022

Europe home alone: Gaming out the future of transatlantic relations

By Liana Fix, Xenia Kelemen, and Jörn Fleck

The Atlantic Council partnered with Körber-Stiftung International Affairs on the 2022 Körber Policy Game to game out Europe’s reactions to any future rifts in the transatlantic relationship.

Europe & Eurasia Politics & Diplomacy