WASHINGTON, DC - Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Affairs, is in Brussels, Belgium this weekend to meet with officials from NATO, the European Union (E.U.) and the United States Missions to Belgium and to the European Union. This is Murphy’s first foreign visit as chairman of the subcommittee.
Murphy will meet with Heads of State and Foreign Ministers to discuss how to strengthen trade between the United States and Europe, and will focus on the potential U.S.-E.U. trade agreement. Murphy will also represent the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on a panel discussion on the global implications of strengthening U.S. energy self-sufficiency. He will be joined on the panel by Carlos Pascual, the State Department Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs.
“I’m looking forward to starting the important work of the subcommittee,” said Murphy. “The United States and the European Union have the largest bilateral trade relationship in the world, and these meetings will help inform my committee’s work to actively promote transatlantic trade and investment, and eliminate regulatory barriers to commerce. Europe is also Connecticut’s largest export market, and despite the economic difficulties Europe has faced recently, there is real potential to grow and strengthen both the United States’ relationship with the region and our economy.”
Earlier this week, Murphy spoke with some of Connecticut’s biggest exporters to Europe to discuss ways to strengthen business partnerships between the U.S. and Europe.
The subcommittee on European affairs deals with all matters concerning U.S. relations with the countries on the continent of Europe, and with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
This subcommittee's responsibilities include all matters within the region relating to: the promotion of U.S. trade and exports, terrorism and non-proliferation; crime and illicit narcotics; and U.S. foreign assistance programs.
