Brussels, 23/08/2010 (Agence Europe) - The next EU-US summit will be held in Lisbon on 20 November. The meeting between President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and American President Barack Obama will take place on the sidelines of the NATO summit being held in the Portuguese capital on 19-20 November. The agenda will be set over the coming weeks, but it is clear that issues such as the regulation of financial markets, preparation of the next G20 meeting in Seoul in November, the recovery of the global economy, post-Copenhagen climate change negotiations, the Iranian nuclear programme, Afghanistan/Pakistan and the Middle East peace process will feature. “Presidents Van Rompuy and Barroso are looking forward to this opportunity to meet again with President Obama to reaffirm the transatlantic agenda and advance EU-US cooperation on issues of mutual concern,” the European Commission says in a press release on 17 August. The summit will also be the first with the United States since the Lisbon Treaty came into force. The summit scheduled for Madrid in May 2010, when Spain held the rotating presidency of the EU, was ultimately postponed at the request of the Americans, officially because of President Obama's heavy schedule (see EUROPE 10069). Some in Europe interpreted this gesture as political marginalisation of the European Union. In a press release of 17 August confirming that President Obama would take part in the Lisbon summit, the White House sought to allay this fear. “The United States has no stronger partner than Europe in advancing security and prosperity around the world,” it says. In a recent interview with the “Times”, Barroso said that relations between the EU and the United States had been somewhat disappointing after the high hopes following the election of President Obama. “The transatlantic relationship is not living up to its potential. I think we should do much more together. We have conditions we have never had before and it would be a pity if we missed this opportunity,” the Commission President said inter alia (see EUROPE 10182). In the meantime, the new EU Representative to the United States Joao Vale de Almeida (and former director general at the Commission's DG Relex and head of Barroso's private office) presented his credentials to President Obama at the White House on 10 August. (H.B./transl.rt)