Maintaining and strengthening the transatlantic relationship which underpins the Alliance is one of the Assembly's priorities.
In 2001, growing concern about the apparent drift in transatlantic attitudes, perceptions and policies, prompted the Assembly's Standing Committee to instigate a "Parliamentary Transatlantic Forum" to help identify the precise nature of the divergence in transatlantic thinking and to explore ways in which these differences could be redressed. The programme includes discussions with senior US administration figures and academic experts.
The Forum is held annually in Washington, D.C. in cooperation with the National Defense University and the Atlantic Council of the United States.
