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News Releases


No. 97/06
November 9, 2006
Joint US/EU Press Release
US AND EU UNITE TO STRENGTHEN ECONOMIC INTEGRATION AND BOOST JOBS, GROWTH AND COMPETITIVENESS
Today, the Bush Administration hosted the
second informal US-EU economic
ministerial meeting to discuss
transatlantic
economic integration and shared
economic challenges.
US Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez (on right in photo at left) and Energy Secretary
Samuel W. Bodman met with European Union Commission Vice President
Günter
Verheugen (on right in photo at left) and the
EU Finnish Presidency's Finnish Minister for Trade and Industry Mauri Pekkarinen to review
joint progress in the most significant areas of the transatlantic economy,
including innovation, intellectual property rights (IPR), regulatory
cooperation, and energy security.
“The US and EU economic relationship continues to be the largest and most
successful bilateral trade and investment relationships in the world,” said
Gutierrez. “However, we also recognize the need to continue to focus on the
burdensome
regulations that slow down economic growth, promote enforcement of
intellectual property rights, and identify ways to collaborate on
innovation
efforts. Today we agreed to look at new projects in these areas, such as the
automotive and healthcare sectors, to bring meaningful results for both
economies.”
“The aim of strengthening
growth and competitiveness, creating jobs and boosting
productivity through innovation, lies at the heart of both the European economic
agenda and of the transatlantic
Economic Initiative,”
said Verheugen.
“Results-oriented policies in the areas of innovation - which includes
protecting and enforcing our
intellectual property rights - and regulation will
reduce bureaucracy and regulatory barriers to trade and investment. It will make
a real difference for our citizens and our businesses on both sides of the
Atlantic.”
“The United States and the members of the European Union share common goals in
providing reliable, affordable, and clean
energy to our countries.” Bodman said.
“We are committed to strengthening our
joint energy security by intensifying our
collaboration to diversify our energy sources and types, promote greater energy
efficiency, and encourage clean energy technology investments.”
Following the adoption of a joint strategy to fight soaring global illegal trade
in counterfeit and pirate goods, US and EU experts are working closely together
to protect Intellectual Property Rights. The teams are working to improve border
enforcement cooperation, help the private sector to enforce their rights and
help third countries such as China and India fight counterfeiting and piracy.
Gutierrez, Bodman, Verheugen and Pekkarinen also agreed to strengthen efforts
to remove regulatory barriers to trade and investment. The parties will explore
a limited number of projects including in the automobile sector and
health-related industries.
The participants also welcomed the progress made under the transatlantic
Innovation Initiative, and agreed to support innovation in areas such as
health-related industries, nanotechnology and automotives.
Participants further discussed a range of other critical economic issues,
including the challenges of the global energy market and the
Doha Development
Agenda negotiations.
Background
The EU-US relationship is the deepest and largest bilateral trade and investment
relationship in the world. It encompasses $756 billion of trade in goods and
services each year, large flows of investment and provides employment to as many
as fourteen million people on both sides of the Atlantic. Strengthening the
relationship between the EU and the US could translate into huge economic
benefits and make both economies more competitive and dynamic.
Business organizations, including UNICE, the American Chamber of Commerce and
the Trans-Atlantic Business (see photo below) and
Consumer Dialogues, have renewed calls to keep
transatlantic cooperation as a top priority
The meeting follows on commitments made in the
2005 EU-US Summit, confirmed at
the 2006 Summit, which called for further transatlantic economic integration.
The next EU-US Summit is due to take place in the first half of 2007.

European Commission Vice President Verheugen (center left) Meets with
Transatlantic Business Dialogue Members

Further Contact Information
Press and Public Diplomacy
Delegation of the European Commission
2300 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
http://www.eurunion.org/PressRoom
Tel: 202-862-9552
Fax: 202-429-1766
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