EU-U.S. Summit: Transatlantic Partners Agree on Plan to Promote Economic Integration

European and American leaders meet today at the White House for the annual EU-U.S. Summit, which will be marked by the adoption of a new framework for promoting transatlantic economic integration.

The EU and the U.S. will also sign the first stage Air Transport Agreement, which could bring up to 12 billion euros in economic benefits and as many as 80,000 new jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.  Other key issues include Kosovo, the Middle East peace process, climate change, and energy security. The EU is seeking the expansion of the U.S. Visa Waiver Program to all EU Member States, each of which already grants visa-free access to U.S. citizens.

EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso commented on the new economic agreement: “With the international role of the U.S. economy as powerful as ever and with the EU now firmly back on the growth and jobs path, this is the right time to deepen our economic partnership and to further strengthen the transatlantic economy. This agreement will allow us to demolish existing, unnecessary barriers posed by divergent regulations…[and] deliver lower costs for businesses and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic."

Regulatory cooperation under the new transatlantic economic framework will concentrate first on key sectors such as automotive industries, medical services and pharmaceuticals and on cross-cutting areas like investment, trade security, and intellectual property rights enforcement. President Barroso is calling for mutual recognition of accounting standards by 2009 and for swift progress on mutual recognition of the rules governing securities markets.

At the Summit, the EU is represented by Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, which occupies the rotating EU Presidency through June 2007, EU Secretary-General/High Representative Javier Solana, European Commission President Barroso, and other members of the European Commission, including Vice President Guenter Verheugen, Vice President Jacques Barrot, External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, and Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson.

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