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News Releases
No. 56/07
May 30, 2007
STATEMENT BY EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT JOSÉ MANUEL BARROSO DURING MEETING WITH SPEAKER OF THE US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NANCY PELOSI
Meeting today in Brussels, European Commission President
José Manuel Barroso discussed
climate change, the
Doha
trade negotiations and extension of the US
Visa Waiver
Program to all European Union Member States with the
Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.
"On climate change things are moving both in Europe and
the US Although we have approached this global challenge
differently, there is now broad agreement that climate
change is a huge challenge, that it is man-made and that
urgent and extensive action is necessary.
"I would like to pay tribute to Speaker Pelosi's role in
working for that understanding and to her commitment to
building further on it. We are taking a close interest
in the
energy and climate initiatives she is helping to
steer through the House.
"There is also transatlantic consensus that market-based
action must play an important role in tackling climate
change. The EU's
emissions trading scheme is a good
example. It had teething problems but it is now working
well and delivering emission reductions at least cost. A
recent report estimated it led companies to cut their
emissions by 7 percent in the first year of the scheme.
We want to build on that in 2008−2012 programming
period.
"Of course, agreement on the problem does not always
mean complete agreement on the solution. Just as within
the EU, there are different opinions in the US on the
approach to take. But we have a joint responsibility to
take action on climate change, which will affect us all.
There is a clear economic case for acting now.
"I look forward to further discussions with President
Bush at the
G8 next week. The EU wants the G8 to take
decisive steps towards the launch of a new global
agreement to reduce emissions from 2012, with
negotiations to start at the UN Climate Change
conference in Indonesia in December. We believe this is
in the US's interests. A strong message on US action
will encourage other large emitters to act. This in turn
will make it easier to take ambitious action in the US.
"We also had the opportunity to briefly discuss trade
policy. We must use the weeks ahead of us to get an
ambitious and balanced Doha deal this year, for our own
sake and for that of global development. US and EU
decision-makers share a responsibility of keeping global
markets open. The emergence of a bipartisan platform on
trade in the US is an encouraging signal. I hope this
will pave the way for a successful conclusion of the WTO
trade talks.
"We have also discussed the US's visa policy. I raised
this again with President Bush at the
EU-US Summit, but
the initiative now lies with Congress. We are asking for
the US Visa Waiver Program to be extended to all EU
Member States, so all EU citizens can visit the US for
business or pleasure as easily as US citizens can visit
Europe.
"The EU does not want visa waiver made conditional on new
political criteria. We simply want equality for all EU
Member States. Speaker Pelosi gave me a sympathetic
hearing on this, for which I am grateful."
 EU
Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs & US Speaker Pelosi
Discuss Energy Security & Climate Change
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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