On October 31, WITA hosted an armchair discussion with the Ambassador of the Delegation of the European Union to the United States, Jovita Neliupšienė, and Ambassador Susan Schwab, the former United States Trade Representative. The Ambassadors discussed trade policy priorities of the new European Commission as it prepares to take office later this year, and the European Union’s trade and investment footprint in the United States.
Following the discussion between the Ambassadors, an expert panel discussed trade relations between the U.S. and EU, and the possibility for deepening ties between the world’s first and third largest economies.
Armchair Discussion Featuring:
Ambassador Susan C. Schwab, Strategic Advisor, Mayer Brown; former United States Trade Representative
Ambassador Jovita Neliupšienė, Delegation of the European Union to the United States; former Vice Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania
Panel Discussion Featuring:
Marco Margheri, Head of US Relations, Eni; Chairman, Eni New Energies US Inc.
Daniel Mullaney, Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council; former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle East
Jonathan Samford, Incoming President & CEO, Global Business Alliance
Lisa Schroeter, Global Director of Trade & Investment Policy, Dow
Moderator: Penny Naas, Lead, GMF Allied Competitiveness, German Marshall Fund
Speaker Biographies:
Ambassador Schwab served as U.S. Trade Representative (2006–09) and as deputy (2005–06). As USTR, she concluded free trade agreements with Peru, Colombia, South Korea and others; and launched the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations. She pursued and/or settled trade disputes with various WTO members, including China, Canada, and the EU, and engaged in negotiations at the WTO, APEC and other regional or plurilateral settings.
In academia, she served as dean of the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland; and as vice chancellor of the University System of Maryland (USM) & CEO of the USM Foundation. She still teaches classes in international trade.
In the private sector, Schwab was director of corporate business development for Motorola, Inc., where she engaged in M&A and joint venture negotiations in Asia, including in China.
Earlier in government, she served as assistant secretary of Commerce and director-general of the U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service, as a trade staffer and legislative director for Senator John C. Danforth (R-MO), and as a foreign service officer at the US Embassy in Tokyo. She began her career as an agricultural trade negotiator at USTR.
Ambassador Schwab serves on the boards of Caterpillar, FedEx and Marriott. She chairs the board of The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC), and is on the boards of The Conference Board, Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU), and Signature Theatre of Arlington, VA.
She holds a BA from Williams College; a Master’s from Stanford University; and a Ph.D. from The George Washington University.
Jovita Neliupšienė is the Ambassador of the European Union to the United States, as of January 1, 2024.
She was Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania from September 2022 until December 2023.
From 2020 to 2022, she was Vice Minister of Economy and Innovation of Lithuania.
In 2020, she held the post of Chancellor and State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania.
Between 2015 and 2020, she served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the EU.
From 2009 to 2015, she worked as an advisor and chief foreign policy advisor to the President of the Republic of Lithuania Ms. Dalia Grybauskaite.
Between 2003 and 2009, she served as a career diplomat in various positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania. From 2005 to 2008, she was posted in Belarus.
From 2006 to 2012, she was a lecturer at the Institute of International Affairs and Political Science at Vilnius University.
From 2000 to 2003, she worked as a political assistant to a member of the Parliament of Lithuania (Seimas).
Ms. Neliupsiene was born in Panevezys, Lithuania. She received her Bachelor degree in political science at Vilnius University (2002, Cum Laude) and Bachelor in law at M. Riomeris Law University (2004). She has a Masters degree in International Relations (2004, Cum Laude) from Vilnius University and PhD in Social Science (2009). In 2008, she spent a semester at Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska. She is a widow and has a son.
Marco Margheri is the Head of Eni’s US Relations and Chairman of Eni New Energies US Inc. He oversees relations with US Authorities, US-based IFIs, and multilateral processes of interest for the company. Marco is also serving as Board Member for the Atlantic Council, a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations and Chair for Italy of the WEC – World Energy Council. Prior to joining Eni, he was Italy’s Edison Executive Vice-President for Sustainability, Institutions & Regulation overseeing activities in Rome and Brussels, and held positions with GE Oil & Gas and Cohn Wolfe. Marco is also a visiting professor at LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome, a member of the Italian press and an Honorary Member of the Milano per la Scala Foundation in Milan.
Penelope (Penny) Naas is Lead for GMF Allied Competitiveness at the German Marshall Fund. She is a global public policy leader who designs strategies on international economic issues that sit at the nexus of geopolitics, trade, and climate. She is an adviser for TradeExperettes, a global organization of women trade experts.
Naas has created innovative strategies and solutions for Citigroup and, more recently, for UPS as its president for international public affairs and global sustainability. She opened and was managing director of Citigroup’s first government affairs office in Brussels between 2007 and 2012 before leading UPS’s international team from 2012 to 2019. She started her career at the US Department of Commerce, where she worked for 13 years on international economic issues and advancing the commercial interests of US companies in Europe.
Naas holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She is on several boards and has co-chaired the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Trade and Investment.
Jonathan Samford is executive vice president at the Global Business Alliance (GBA) – a business association representing international companies that have significant operations in the United States. Jonathan leads GBA’s advocacy team, overseeing the organization’s government affairs, communications, political and strategic initiatives. It was announced in May that Jonathan will assume the role of President & CEO of the Global Business Alliance in 2025, succeeding GBA’s founder and current President & CEO Nancy McLernon.
Providing nearly two decades’ worth of experience in communications and government affairs, Jonathan manages a stellar team of more than 20 communicators, lobbyists, economists, consultants and subject matter experts in developing compelling initiatives to advance the organization’s mission. As a spokesperson for an organization representing many of the world’s most-recognized companies, Jonathan works regularly with the leading business, economic, tax and trade policy journalists in the country.
Prior to joining GBA in 2013, Jonathan served as communications director to a former member of the House Ways and Means Committee. Previously, Jonathan held several positions, including deputy press secretary, in the personal office of U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
A native of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Jonathan earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Centre College. He and his wife – a captain in the U.S. Army Reserves – spend their free time chasing after their sons.
Lisa Schroeter is the Global Director of Trade and Investment Policy for The Dow Chemical Company. As part of the corporate Government Affairs & Public Policy team, Lisa has direct responsibilities for defining and managing the company’s global trade agenda as well as developing strategy on the international aspects of key corporate issues. Based in Washington, DC, Lisa’s responsibilities focus on trade policy and legislation, trade negotiations, and investment issues that foster growth in Dow’s global businesses through identification of policies facilitating market access and reducing global distribution costs.
Before joining Dow, Lisa was the Executive Director of the TransAtlantic Business Dialogue (TABD). TABD is a unique trade-facilitation process by which American and European corporations work with the U.S. Administration and the European Commission to implement practical, detailed recommendations. Lisa was responsible for staffing the U.S. Chair CEO, working with the issue committees to develop and promote their recommendations, and facilitating business and government interaction. Ms. Schroeter joined TABD in 1999, and managed the process on behalf of the Boeing Company, PricewaterhouseCoopers, United Technologies Corporation and Xerox.
Lisa is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR); President-Elect of Women in International Trade (WIIT) and a Board Member of the Washington International Trade Association, US Council for International Business the US-ASEAN Business Council and Cultural Tourism, DC. She serves as the Chair of the ICCA Trade Network and Global Regulatory Cooperation task forces as well as the US Business Committee of the Transatlantic Policy Network (TPN).
As a long-term DC resident, Lisa is also a Board Member of Cultural Tourism DC, celebrating the unique heritage and history of the U.S. Capital.