Prime Policy Group welcomes to the firm John Schmitz. John will lead Prime Policy's new Transatlantic Group further extending the firm's reach into Europe, where he has advised Fortune 500 companies on legal and regulatory issues for more than 20 years. Prior to joining the firm, John was a partner at Bingham McCutchen and Mayer Brown LLP-the latter for which he launched a thriving German practice with 100+ lawyers. He also served as Deputy Counsel to President George H. W. Bush, law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, and Special Assistant to Assistant Attorney General William Baxter.

The Snowden revelations provoked a European backlash against US surveillance practices. That backlash has harmed US technology companies doing business in Europe. Has recently-passed legislation reforming the PATRIOT Act calmed European anger, and if not, what more needs to be done to address the issue? The PATRIOT Act reforms have been greeted positively by European elites, but have made little dent in European public opinion, also reflected in populist positions taken by European politicians both in Brussels and member state capitals. Allegations of economic espionage directed at European companies along with the European public's broader sense that U.S. technology companies are reaching too deeply into their private lives continue to unsettle the transatlantic relationship and ongoing cooperation on intelligence matters, as well as the TTIP negotiations. Europeans, and Germans in particular, are seeking a commitment from the U.S. to discontinue certain surveillance practices, while acknowledging that a hoped-for broad no-spy agreement was never within reach. On a positive note, there has been steady but slow progress on the details of a broader set of privacy agreements (such as safe harbor, and US-German bilateral NSA relations.)What is the prevailing opinion of TTIP among Europeans, and how will this public opinion shape efforts by European leaders to finalize the agreement with the US negotiators?Two years into the TTIP negotiations, increasing European public skepticism and politically difficult issues surrounding tariffs, government procurement and investment rules continue to burden the negotiations, which USTR Michael Froman initially said he hoped to conclude on "one tank of gas." In fact, TTIP will not be finished this year, as he had hoped. The investor-state dispute provisions in particular have caused significant opposition from consumer groups and other European NGOs. Germany is a central point for public opposition to TTIP in Europe, which stands in contrast to the German government's and Chancellor Merkel's personally important role in launching the negotiations. Optimistically, Chancellor Merkel intends to soldier through to a good result on TTIP, which she can do in the German system despite public complaining, as long as she has the continued support of her Socialist government coalition partner, Sigmar Gabriel.Ongoing negotiations between European leaders on a bailout package for Greece has generated worldwide interest in part because they starkly reveal the deep political and economic fissures within the EU. What do you see as the political future of the EU? Since the creation of the European Community, strong cooperation between France and Germany has been the cornerstone of European integration. The successful conclusion and implementation of the Maastricht Treaty is one example of how this relationship has worked successfully - with Germany exercising its power quietly, and France taking a strong and more visible leadership role. The Greek debt crisis has challenged this model of German-Franco cooperation, as Germany has asserted its economic power within the EU more forcefully and visibly than in the past. The change in dynamics could provide a significant challenge to the future functioning of the EU and the carefully balanced relationship between France and Germany as one of its key pillars. That in turn will require sectors like finance, pharma, energy and high-tech to fully understand the political and regulatory systems in European capitals, and especially Berlin and Paris, in addition to the EU institutions in Brussels.