Mediaroom

EC Commissioner for Justice, Viviane Reding, today gave a speech at Yale University, New Haven, speaking about EU-US relations and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

Main Messages

1/ On the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP):

For ambitious and complex negotiations to succeed there needs to be trust among the negotiating partners.

2/ Reflections on the future of Europe: “The US can inspire us.”

We should start moving towards a United States of Europe – a model of government that draws the right lessons from the errors of the past: a model that further deepens the political and democratic foundations of the European Union.

Perhaps one day in the future we will need a directly elected President of the European Commission. The Presidential election campaign in the USA has shown us what a mobilising effect such a decision about a single person can have for a whole continent.

What we certainly need is a European Finance Minister. One person who protects the interests of all Member States and speaks for them in international institutions. Like (…) the U.S. Finance Minister. He is responsible for the federal budget and the interest of the US as a whole – not for the finances of Ohio.

Read the full speech of Commissioner Reding