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<p>EU ambassador to discuss EU-U.S. transatlantic trade agreement in IUPUI lecture.</p>

EU ambassador to discuss EU-U.S. transatlantic trade agreement in IUPUI lecture

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INDIANAPOLIS — The head of the European Union’s delegation to the United States will speak at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis this month.

EU Ambassador Joao Vale de Almeida will deliver a guest lecture from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21, in the IUPUI Campus Center theater, on the lower level of the center at 450 University Blvd. The ambassador’s talk will focus on current negotiations for a transatlantic trade agreement between the European Union and the United States.

“The proposed trade agreement would bring together the two biggest economies and trading powers in the world,” said John McCormick, professor in the Department of Political Science at IUPUI. “Combined, the EU and U.S. economies account for almost half of global economic output and about a quarter of global trade.”

Indiana is the EU’s biggest trade partner after Canada, according to McCormick. During Vale de Almeida’s visit to Indiana, the ambassador will also hold meetings at Indiana Gov. Mike Pence’s office Nov. 22.

Before presenting his credentials as ambassador to President Barack Obama in 2010, Vale de Almeida served as the director general for external relations at the European Commission, the EU’s executive body. In this position, he helped formulate and execute the EU’s foreign policy and played a key role in preparing for the new European External Action Service introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon.

Vale de Almeida has held several positions with the European Commission, which he joined in 1982 after spending seven years as a journalist. He holds a degree in history from the University of Lisbon and has studied and received training in journalism and management in the United States, France, Japan and the United Kingdom.

The ambassador’s talk, sponsored by the Department of Political Science in the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI, is sponsoring the event, which is free of charge and open to the general public. Parking, fee applicable, is available in the Vermont Street garage, 1004 W. Vermont St., west of the IUPUI Campus Center.