Europe and the United States need each other

At the round­TABLE with Lee Brud­vig from the U.S. Embassy Vien­na the future of transat­lantic coop­er­a­tion was dis­cussed in light of the recent media cov­er­age on the Transat­lantic Trade and Invest­ment Pro­gram (TTIP).

Europe and the U.S. have one of the most sig­nif­i­cant eco­nom­ic and strate­gic part­ner­ships in the world. Despite that, dif­fer­ent approach­es to employ­ment, safe­ty, envi­ron­men­tal pro­tec­tion or the extent to which the pub­lic author­i­ties inter­feres in the econ­o­my lead to poten­tial for con­flict. Dis­agree­ments on these and oth­er issues can stand in the way of a treaty like TTIP.

But why should Europe and the U.S. work togeth­er more close­ly in the first place?
What are the eco­nom­ic and strate­gic motives?
Which role does Aus­tria play in all this?

These were some of the ques­tions the audi­ence con­sist­ing of local jour­nal­ists, uni­ver­si­ty mem­bers, politi­cians, etc. raised and discussed.