Issue 552 | June 2022

The June edition of The Parliament Magazine is now available to read online for free.

In our last magazine before heading off for a summer break, we bring you an issue dedicated to examining the state of EU-US cooperation.  

In a first for this magazine, we feature an op-ed from an American congressperson: California Democratic Representative Jim Costa, who co-chairs the Transatlantic Legislators’ Dialogue (TLD) along with his European counterpart, RadosÅ‚aw Sikorski (PL, EPP). Costa’s piece offers an intriguing glimpse into how the TLD functions and why it’s so very important.  

Many of the voices in this issue speak to how this transatlantic relationship is transforming in the fields of trade and technology. German Marshall Fund Fellow Julia Trehu offers a helpful overview of where Europe and the US diverge in terms of tech policy, while European Council on Foreign Relations Visiting Fellow Julian Ringhof makes the case that transatlantic alignment on digital policies is critical for strong EU foreign and security policies. 

If you follow EU tech policy and its relationship to Silicon Valley, then you won’t be surprised to see Andreas Schwab (DE, EPP) weighing in here. We also feature contributions from Parliament Vice-President Dita Charanzová (CZ, RE) and Miapetra Kumpula-Natri (FI, S&D). 

Our feature interview this month is with US ambassador to the EU Mark Gitenstein. In his first major interview since taking up the role in January, the ambassador tells journalist Adam Payne about EU-US cooperation amidst these turbulent times, his close personal friendship with US President Joe Biden and his time as US ambassador to Romania.  

But wait, there’s more. The Conference on the Future of Europe offered up a whopping 326 suggested measures for the EU institutions and Member States. What are some of the more interesting ideas hiding in that massive pile? Matej Banovec investigates.  

And we’re not letting you run off to the beach without a good summer reading list, so be sure to check out Librebook’s recommendations and Luke Johnson’s review of Free, in which author and academic Lea Ypi recounts her childhood in communist Albania.  

We’re excited to share with you that The Parliament Magazine, or, as we like to call it, ParliMag, will be going through a transformation this summer. We’ll come back to you next autumn looking fresh and shiny, with all kinds of new content for you to enjoy. Want a say in how the new ParliMag turns out? Now is your chance. Email us to share what stories you want to read and whose voices you want to hear.