Transatlantic Trade Week
Transatlantic Technology and Trade: Sovereignty or Interdependence?
Welcome:
Hardy Ostry, Executive Director, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung USA
Jeff Rathke, President, AGI
Panelists:
Ansgar Baums, Ansgar Baums, General Manager International Government Affairs, Microsoft Germany and Austria
Fran Burwell, Managing Director and Head of Research, McLarty Associates; Distinguished Fellow, Atlantic Council
Stormy-Annika Mildner, Executive Director, Aspen Institute Germany
Kenneth Propp, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council; Adjunct Professor, European Union Law, Georgetown University Law Center
Moderator:
Peter Rashish, Vice President and Director of the Geoeconomics Program, AGI
For the sixth consecutive year, the American-German Institute and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung USA are jointly convening “Transatlantic Trade Week” in Washington, DC. This year’s online session will examine the balance between national sovereignty and interdependence in the transatlantic tech stack.
While relations have stabilized somewhat since the Supreme Court struck down the Trump administration’s tariffs enacted through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, economic tensions between the United States and the European Union remain. In technology policy, these include how the EU’s Digital Services Act, Digital Markets Act, and AI Act will affect leading U.S. tech firms, as well as broader questions about differing approaches to technology governance between Washington and Brussels.
At the same time, there are signs that the United States and the EU can to compartmentalize their relations. Cooperative steps such as the Memorandum of Understanding and Action Plan for Critical Minerals Supply Chains Resilience and the ongoing U.S. Pax Silica initiative may allow for both sides to reach agreement. In addition, there appears to be greater awareness of the common interests that characterize the transatlantic tech ecosystem, including at the recent G7 summit in France. This awareness may provide space for greater transatlantic cooperation between the Trump administration and the EU, especially in artificial intelligence.
This session will convene via Zoom. Please contact AGI Program Associate Mr. Jack Fornasiero at jfornasiero@aicgs.org with any questions.
Ansgar Baums has been General Manager International Government Affairs since December 1, 2025, and heads the Government Affairs department of Microsoft Germany and Austria. He has decades of experience in corporate and government affairs and is an expert in security, geopolitical risks, and digital sovereignty.
Before joining Microsoft, he was a Senior Advisor at Sinolytics, a geopolitical risk management consultancy. Prior to that, Ansgar Baums held senior positions in government affairs at companies including Zoom, HP, Hewlett-Packard, SAP, and the German digital association Bitkom. Ansgar Baums holds a Master’s degree in International Strategy and Economics from the University of St. Andrews and a diploma in Political Science from the Free University of Berlin.
Frances G. Burwell, Managing Director and Head of Research , advises clients on the European Union and US-EU relations. From 2008-2016, Dr. Burwell served as the Atlantic Council’s Vice President for European Union and Special Initiatives and Director of Transatlantic Programs and Studies. She previously led the Program on Transatlantic Relations. Dr. Burwell was also a leading initiator and organizer of the Wroclaw Global Forum in Poland, the Council’s flagship European conference. She is currently a Distinguished Fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Future Europe Initiative and a member of the Advisory Board of Allied for Startups. Burwell’s research has focused on the digital economy and privacy, the European energy transition, US-EU trade and investment, US-EU security cooperation, and EU institutions and processes. A noted commentator on EU issues, Dr. Burwell is the author of numerous policy reports and has recently contributed to The Telegraph, The Hill, C-SPAN, and NPR, among other outlets.
Prior to her time at the Atlantic Council, Dr. Burwell was the Executive Director of the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland and the founding Executive Director of Women in International Security (WIIS) at the Center for International and Security Studies. Dr. Burwell holds a BA in Political Science from Mount Holyoke College, an MPhil in International Relations from the University of Oxford, and a PhD in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland.
Stormy-Annika Mildner is the executive director at the Aspen Institute Germany and a Geoeconomics Non-Resident Senior Fellow at AGI. She was Sherpa of the Business 20 (B20), the official Engagement Partner of the German G20 Presidency, and has previously served as Head of the External Economic Policy Department at the Federation of German Industries (BDI).
Kenneth Propp is a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center, and consults for technology companies on transatlantic digital and privacy law and policy issues. He also serves as a senior research fellow at the Cross-Border Data Forum, and is a contributing editor for the Lawfare blog. From 2016-2018, Professor Propp was director of trade policy for BSA | The Software Alliance, an association of major software companies. From 2011-2015, he served as Legal Counselor at the U.S. Mission to the European Union, in Brussels, Belgium, where he led U.S. Government engagement with the EU on digital and privacy law and policy, and participated in U.S.-EU trade negotiations.
Previously, as a career senior attorney in the Office of the Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of State, Professor Propp specialized in legal issues relating to international criminal law and international trade and investment law. He also served as legal adviser to the U.S. Embassy in Germany. Professor Propp holds a J.D from Harvard Law School and a bachelor’s degree from Amherst College.
This event is presented in partnership with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung USA.
