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News Releases
No. 43/07
April 27, 2007
EU AND US TO SIGN UP TO TRANSATLANTIC ECONOMIC INTEGRATION PLAN AT WASHINGTON SUMMIT ON APRIL 30
This year's
EU-US Summit will take place in
Washington, DC, Monday, April 30. Meeting at the White
House, EU and US leaders will adopt a new framework for
promoting
transatlantic
economic integration. The Summit will also
deal with other issues such as
Kosovo, working together to support
the
Middle East peace process, tackling
climate change
and boosting
energy security through the search for
sustainable new resources and credible energy efficiency
measures. The EU side will be asking the US to extend
its
Visa Waiver Program to citizens of all
Member States so that EU citizens, like American ones,
can cross the Atlantic freely.
The President of the European Commission,
José Manuel
Barroso [pictured above with President Bush, January
2007], Vice Presidents
Günter Verheugen (Enterprise
and Industry) and
Jacques Barrot (Transport) and
Commissioners
Benita Ferrero-Waldner (External
Relations) and
Peter Mandelson (Trade) will represent
the Commission at the Summit, which is hosted by US
President George W. Bush. German Chancellor Angela
Merkel will represent the
EU Presidency, assisted by the
Secretary-General/High Representative
Javier Solana.
Before departing for the United States, President
Barroso commented: “Our
political relationship with the
US is as close as ever, based on deep ties of kinship.
With the international role of the US 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 nip new ones in the bud. With
the necessary political commitment and follow up on all
sides, the new framework will 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
right enforcement. President Barroso will call for the
mutual recognition of accounting standards by 2009 and
for swift progress on mutual recognition of the rules
governing securities markets.
In a practical demonstration of EU-US commitment to the
aims of a genuine transatlantic market, the EU-US first
stage
Air Transport Agreement will be signed. Analysts
believe that the agreement could bring up to €12 billion
in economic benefits and as many as 80,000 new jobs on
both sides of the Atlantic.
Joint EU-US efforts to unleash the full potential of the
transatlantic economy will be accompanied by a concerted
effort to bring to fruition the
Doha trade round.
Background facts and figures
Collectively, the
European Union and the US register
more than $3 trillion of commercial sales annually.
Bilateral trade between the EU and the US accounts for
40% of all global trade. Our combined GDP accounts for
60% of world GDP.
In 2005, Americans invested four times as much in
Belgium as they did in China last year.
US affiliates in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic
– population 58 million – earned almost one-and-a-half
times more in 2005 than US affiliates in India –
population 1.2 million.
Europe accounts for almost 70% of total US inward
investment stock, and owns 75% of all foreign-owned
assets. European affiliates employ nearly 300,000 people
in New York alone.
For further information please go to:
http://www.eurunion.org/partner/summit/20070430sum.htm
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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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