Trade & Technology Council – EU/US – Faculty Club, Leuven.
Client: European Commission (DG Trade & DG Connect) and FPS Foreign Affairs
Location: Faculty Club, Leuven
Date: April 4-5, 2024
The EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC) serves as a forum for the United States and the European Commission to coordinate approaches to major global trade, economic and technological issues and to deepen transatlantic trade and economic relations based on these shared values. It was established at the EU-US Summit on June 15, 2021 in Brussels. The 6th ministerial meeting was organized in Leuven on April 4-5, 2024. Besides the 2-day conference, there was a visit of the VIPs to IMEC and a VIP dinner at Park Abbey in Leuven. More than 250 international participants took part in this event on both days, mainly delegates from the European Commission and European member states, but also delegates and policy makers from the US and members of the press.
The "key players" were U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, U.S. Trade Representative and Ambassador Katherine Tai, U.S. Trade Representative and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and European delegation leaders, including EPP Margrethe Vestager, EPP Valdis Dombrovskis and European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton. They were welcomed by Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Hadja Lahbib.
As a result of the 2-day conference, they agreed on:
- Promoting transatlantic cooperation in AI, 6G, critical and emerging technologies.
- Promoting simpler, more sustainable and secure trade in the transatlantic market.
- Defending human rights and values in a changing geopolitical digital environment.
TMAB was responsible for the entire coordination of this event. Our tasks included:
- Benchmarking and site selection;
- Organization, participation and reporting of preparatory meetings with all suppliers;
- Staff and security;
- Contact and follow-up with all involved vendors and partners, including personnel responsible for security, personnel, technical equipment and services, catering, transportation, venue, printing, gadgets, furniture and photography;
- Design and management of visual and printed materials (posters, backgrounds, leaflets, programs, templates, etc.)
- Administrative and logistical support: catering, set-up, decoration, branding, etc;
- Complete on-site organization and follow-up of activities and protocols;
- Organization of reception and registrations (badges, checkroom, etc.);
- Surround speakers and participants;
- Set up and tear down of the meeting - including all logistical elements.
Why this reference?
- TTC was launched just 6 weeks before the event date, which meant TMAB had to work 24/7 to get all logistics and security aspects ready on time.
- Organizing this major political event with so many important participants was a huge challenge in terms of protocol, security, timing, transportation, etc.