Angelos Pangratis, Chargé d’Affaires and Acting Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United States, will discuss the impact of the recently implemented Lisbon Treaty on the EU’s global role in a lecture at the University of Michigan titled “After Lisbon: A New Era for Europe and EU-US Relations.” He will also speak about how the EU is managing the debt crisis in some member states and review next steps in EU-US relations, after Lisbon, as a new European Commission, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and European Council President seek to further the EU’s global cooperation with the Obama Administration. 

On December 1, 2009 the EU’s Lisbon Treaty went into effect. This agreement between the 27 EU member states is intended to increase democracy, transparency and efficiency in Europe, while formalizing fundamental rights, democratic values, freedom and security for EU citizens. In addition, the Lisbon Treaty unifies member states under a common foreign policy apparatus that is designed to give the EU a unified voice in international affairs. The EU states that the Lisbon Treaty “harnesses Europe’s economic, humanitarian, political and diplomatic strengths to promote European interests and values worldwide, while respecting the particular interests of the Member States in Foreign Affairs.”

Mr. Pangratis will discuss the impact of the Lisbon Treaty and implications for trans-Atlantic relations at a public lecture sponsored by U-M’s European Union Center for Excellence, one of 10 centers sponsored by the European Commission to promote understanding of the EU in the United States. During his visit, Mr. Pangratis will meet with undergraduate students in the Honors Program and in a political science course titled “Politics of the European Union.” He will also meet with leaders of the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute and visit the university auto lab to learn about sustainable energy research at the University of Michigan.

LINKS: www.eurunion.org