The annual international conference of the Council for the United States and Italy will take place in Venice from Friday, June 7, to Saturday, June 8, 2013 at the Hotel Excelsior, Venice Lido. Attendance is reserved only to members of the Council and invited guests, including Italian and key international figures from politics, academia, industry, and finance.

This will be the 24th Workshop, the main initiative of the Italian branch of the Council for the US and Italy, a private organization aimed at fostering closer ties between the United States and Italy and, in a broader perspective, between US and Europe. The Council is co-chaired by Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat SpA, Chairman of Fiat Industrial SpA, and Chairman and CEO of Chrysler Group LLC, and by David W. Heleniak, Senior Advisor of Morgan Stanley. The Council is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2013.

Welcoming remarks will be delivered by Sergio Marchionne. The keynote speeches of the Workshop will be given by David H. Thorne (U.S. Ambassador to Italy), Enrico Giovannini (Minister of Labor and Social Policy), Fabrizio Saccomanni (Minister of Economy and Finance) and Giuliano Amato (Former Italian Prime Minister).

Three working sessions, featuring the contributions of influential figures on key issues, will be focused on the theme "The governance of the euro and Europe's competitiveness":
1. Focus on France: Élisabeth Guigou (Chairwoman, Foreign Affairs Commitee, French National Assembly), Jacques Mistral (Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution and Institut Français des Relations Internationales), David de Rothschild (Executive Chairman, Rothschild Group);
2. Focus on Italy: Giampaolo Galli (Member, Italian Parliament, Professor of Economics, LUISS University, and former Director General of Confindustria), Marcello Messori (Professor of Economics, LUISS University), Marco Tronchetti Provera (Chairman and CEO, Pirelli & C. SpA);
3. Focus on Germany: Roland Berger (Honorary Chairman, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants), Stefan Collignon (Professor of Political Economy, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies), Michael Fuchs (Vice- Chairman, CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group).
A fourth panel will be focused on Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. The speakers will be Alessandro Pansa (CEO, Finmeccanica), André Sapir (Senior Fellow, Bruegel, and Professor, Université Libre de Bruxelles) and Susan C. Schwab (Professor, University of Maryland, School of Public Policy and Strategic Advisor, Mayer Brown).

This year a special study focused on Italy, France, and Germany: an overview of their competitiveness will be presented by Donato Iacovone (Mediterranean Managing Partner, Ernst & Young) and discussed with Liz Alderman (Correspondent, The New York Times and International Herald Tribune).
It may be possible to arrange individual interviews with speakers or other guests. Media will not be able to enter the room of the working sessions but the 'on the record' keynote speeches may be available for monitoring in the media room.

If you are interested in seeking accreditation to the event, please enter the restricted area of the website www.consiusa.org/en/media/restricted_area.asp. After you have registered and received a confirmation via email, you will be able to access the complete program of the Workshop as well as other information. Access to Hotel Excelsior will only be open to previously accredited media.

Contact info: Dennis Redmont, Head of Media, Communication, and Development
E-mail [email protected]