Marc Vanheukelen According to EUCE Director, Dr. Vicki Birchfield, "Vanheukelen's position with the European Union is the equivalent to the US State Department's Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and having such prominent policy makers on campus is one of the added benefits of operating one of only 11 EU Centers of Excellence in the country."

In his address to members of the Georgia Tech and Atlanta business and diplomatic community, Vanheukelen provided an overview of the EU's external policies and the current challenges facing the transatlantic community ranging from instability in Afghanistan and Pakistan to the global financial crisis and climate change. Vanheukelen offered a dose of reality on what he described as America's fascination with China, noting that Europe accounts for over 57% of total US foreign direct investment and from 2000 to mid-2008, US investment in Belgium was greater than our investment in China. Further demonstrating the transatlantic economic link, Vanheukelen noted that four million Americans work for EU companies and five million Europeans work for US companies. Vanheukelen said that, despite "spats" over America's use of force to resolve global conflicts, the EU and US share more values and principles than any other countries. The discussion proved to be an informative prelude to the recent G-20 summit and President Obama's European tour marking the 60th anniversary of NATO and his first EU-US summit.