A new study by Joseph Quinlan, Transatlantic Fellow at the Center For Transatlantic Relations, Johns Hopkins and the German Marshall Fund showed that despite the Eurozone crisis, the EU offers tremendous opportunities for U.S. businesses. The crisis has triggered EU-wide structural reforms that will make Europe stronger in the longer term. Meanwhile, the European Union remains the largest and wealthiest economy in the world.

The report reveals that despite Europe's economic difficulties in 2012, the region still accounted for nearly 25% of the foreign affiliate income from American S&P 500 companies. The European combined economy is larger than that of the U.S., while Europe's accounts for about on quarter of global personal consumption; on par with the U.S. and two-thirds larger than the BRICs combined.
The report found many advantages to doing business in Europe. Europe accounts for 25% of global R&D expenditures and produces 17% of global engineering graduates (compared to 4% in the U.S.). Europe also comes out on top when it comes to ease of doing business. According to the World Bank, 12 European economies ranked in the top 25 most business-friendly; this is in contrast to some of the emerging markets that did not rank very highly - China 91st, India 132nd, and Brazil 130th.

Additionally the countries on Europe's periphery, notably the Middle East, Russia, Turkey and North Africa remain key sources of growth and consumption. Europe's trading links to those countries have deepened and thickened over the past decade to the benefit of U.S. companies operating in Europe.
The promise held by a possible Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership could further solidify the transatlantic economy. "This agreement could be a global game changer. With a big focus on regulatory and standards issues, this agreement could be a gold standard for the removal of non-tariff barriers. A new template for international trade and economic agreements could be a huge benefit of TTIP", stated Quinlan.

More emphasis on the topic will be given within the Investment and Development Conference U.S. - SLOVENIA BUSINESS BRIDGE, 17-18 October 2013, Ljubljana, when special with two exceptional guest speakers, visiting Slovenia for the first time: Mr. Joseph P. Quinlan, Managing Director and Chief Market Strategist at U.S. Trust - Bank of America Private Wealth Management, according to the U.S. TV Network CNBC - one of the leading experts on global capital flows and transatlantic economy, who will present "The Case for Investing in Europe" and Ms. Elena Bryan, Senior Trade Representative at the U.S. Mission to the European Union, who has significant overview and role in the field of negotiations and progress of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).