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		Roger heads international relations conference in Washington Report: International Relations Workshop - States And Nation Policy Summit 2005 December 16 2005 by Sally McNamara With three extremely distinguished speakers, ALEC held its second international relations workshop of our annual States and Nation Policy Summit. Following on from an extremely successful year of policy development among ALEC's members and our new international contacts, ALEC was privileged to host Mr. Roger Helmer (Member of the European Parliament, UK), Dr. John K. Glenn (Director of Foreign Policy, German Marshall Fund of the United States) and Dr. Boguslaw Winid (Deputy Chief of Mission, Polish Embassy). Entitled "The Global Agenda: Why the Transatlantic Relationship Really Matters," Senator William G. Hewes III, Chairman of ALEC's International Relations Committee, moderated three agenda items - (i) Topical debates in today's European Union, (ii) Emerging international regulatory issues, including the precautionary principle and protection of intellectual property rights, and (iii) The wider global agenda and the importance of the transatlantic relationship. Roger Helmer MEP warned of the dangers of further European integration and encouraged ALEC to apply its Jeffersonian principles of federalism in its global outlook. Boguslaw Winid welcomed the deep bilateral relations that Poland shares with the United States, and expressed concerns about burgeoning global regulatory frameworks that work against the growing competitiveness of emerging countries like Poland. And John Glenn laid out the essentiality of further co-operation and dialogue among transatlantic allies, for economic, social and political reasons - if only to combat the differences that threaten to divide the strongest democratic alliance in the world today. Having completed it first full year, the international relations project has seen tremendous growth and support, enhanced greatly by our partnership with legislators, the private sector, academics, think tanks and diplomats from right across Europe. We are now entering 2006 with renewed vigor and a strong coalition of principled, conservatively-minded policy makers. We have just launched our new membership program for international legislators, and are planning for our 2006 exchange visit to Europe to be just as successful as 2005 (to Strasbourg, France and Prague, Czech Republic). ALEC wishes to thank its members, participants and corporate sponsors for their vision, leadership and support throughout 2005 and wish you all a happy holidays.