New Transatlantic Agenda
Senior Level Group
Report to the US-EU Summit
May 18, 1998

During the UK Presidency, we have made substantial progress in reaching goals set at the last Summit and overcoming differences which, if left unresolved, could limit our ability to work together.

We have cooperated on key foreign policy issues to enhance the effectiveness of EU and US diplomacy.

We have worked together to address the current crisis in Kosovo. We have provided support for the new reformist Government in the Republika Srpska. We drove forward together implementation of the Dayton agreement, in particular, refugee return, including through the recent Refugee Return Conferences of Sarajevo and Banja Luka, and supported economic reforms in Bosnia, as required by the International Financial Institutions.

Following up on the Joint Statement on Ukraine agreed in December 1997, a joint demarche was made to the Ukrainian authorities after the elections, stressing the critical importance of continuing political and economic reforms. We have identified further areas for possible cooperation, including common approaches on trade and investment issues, energy sector reform, civil society and nuclear safety. We have drawn up a five-point agenda for a common approach with the Russian Federation and all interested parties to the problem of nuclear waste management in North West Russia. We are arranging a joint training programme for election monitors in Slovakia to prepare for the 1998 general elections. We have cooperated closely on Turkey and on Cyprus. We are working together to address cross-border smuggling in Romania under the SECI initiative.

Elsewhere we have intensified our consultations on policy towards Iran, focusing on issues of common concern. We have developed closer cooperation on issues such as counter-terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. We have both condemned India's recent decision to conduct nuclear tests. We have established a new, high-level EU-US coordination mechanism on the Middle East Peace Process. We have worked closely on human rights issues in Geneva. The EU and US are both taking steps to press Burma to respect human rights and democratic principles.

We enhanced the impact of our assistance efforts through close coordination of European Commission and USAID programmes. Among our many cooperative endeavours, we have supported good governance in Central America, delivered humanitarian aid to North Korea and emergency assistance to victims of El Nino in Central and South America, launched efforts to combat violence against women, and implemented joint projects to help destitute women in Bangladesh. We co-chaired the May 5 Donor Support Group meeting for Afghanistan in London.

We have worked together to address global challenges, to promote international law enforcement and address environmental concerns. We are jointly supporting information campaigns in Poland and Ukraine to discourage trafficking in women. US law enforcement experts visited the Europol Drugs Unit in January. A return visit by EU experts will take place in June. We have held expert level meetings on corruption and money-laundering under the auspices of the Multidisciplinary Group on Organised Crime. We have explored opportunities for cooperation on stolen vehicles. We have supported the Caribbean Drugs Initiative to tackle drugs trafficking in the Caribbean. We have begun a dialogue on follow-up to the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. We are preparing cooperation on environmental protection in Central Asia. Specific projects are already addressing environmental issues in Brazil and Ukraine.

We have developed our bilateral trade and economic relationship and our cooperation on multilateral trade issues.

We have intensified our discussions on how to take forward our tradegoals as set out in the New Transatlantic Agenda. We have worked together in the World Trade Organisation in preparation for the May Ministerial so as to lay the groundwork for further multilateral negotiations leading to broad based liberalisation and for the Summit celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the GATT. We have managed to defuse a number of potentially serious trade disputes.

We have worked in various fora to advance our common goals on electronic commerce as agreed at the December 1997 Summit, including establishing a dialogue to address the free flow and protection of personal data. We are ready to sign a Positive Comity Agreement to enhance cooperation between our competition agencies. We have completed negotiation of a Veterinary Equivalency Agreement, which will facilitate transatlantic trade in animals and animal products.

We have negotiated a parallel agreement on auto standards within the UN/ECE framework. We have cooperated to improve worldwide protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights. We are signing the Mutual Recognition Agreement and have advanced negotiations on two new sectors - veterinary biologics and fasteners.

We have strengthened links between our peoples.

We are presenting awards to 50 individuals and organisations who have promoted democratic values and civil society in their countries. We have agreed to provide around $2.5 million each for joint civic education and civil society initiatives in Ukraine. We have urged the Transatlantic Business Dialogue to continue its important work strengthening transatlantic trade relations. We have encouraged the launch of other similar dialogues. Following its April meeting, the transatlantic Labour Dialogue (TALD) is being taken forward with action on several fronts, and we have agreed to organise a Consumer Dialogue. Our grant-giving foundations and NGOs have agreed to work together to better allocate scarce resources; a handbook of relevant EU and US NGOs and initiatives has been published. We held the first meeting of the Joint Committee on Higher Education and Vocational Training, which welcomed the solid achievements made in this field under the NTA.

We have involved our parliamentarians more closely in the EU/US process: an increased number of parliamentary visits took place; and an internship programme has been set up in the European Parliament and in the US Congress. As part of our implementation of the Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement signed in December 1997, we are holding in June an EU/US roundtable conference. We jointly organised a forum in Akron, Ohio, in February to look at ways to increase employability and tackle social exclusion. We have given support for the successful implementation of the Transatlantic Information Exchange Service (TIES), a mega-site on the Internet which will enable our NGOs to develop contacts and cooperate together.

New Priorities

For the next six months we will focus on the following:

I. Promoting Peace, Stability, Democracy and Development

Work together in the Former Yugoslavia, particularly Kosovo, Bosnia, and throughout the Western Balkans. Implement our programme of cooperation in Ukraine. Continue to work closely together on Cyprus and Turkey. Pursue with all parties concerned, in the first place the Russian Federation, our joint agenda for nuclear waste management in Northwest Russia, and report on progress by the Spring 1999 EU/US Summit. Increase coordination on other nuclear safety issues. Put into practice the consultative mechanism set up to ensure better coordination of our efforts on the Middle East Peace Process. Continue to cooperate on Iran, particularly on issues of shared concern. Examine the possibility for cooperation on technical assistance to develop the rule of law in China.

Continue to work together and with African partners to promote human rights, good governance and conflict prevention. Continue active consultations on UN reform and finances. Use our High Level Assistance Consultations in October to reinforce our cooperation on economic, development and humanitarian issues.

Assess ways of further enhancing our demining cooperation in specific areas such as mine action institutions and capacity building in afflicted countries, the development of appropriate technology and information exchange on mine-exporting countries. Work for the successful completion of the Biological Weapons Convention Protocol by the end of 1998. Further enhance our cooperation on non-proliferation and export controls. Consider scope for a joint EU/US code of conduct on arms exports. Consolidate cooperation in KEDO, together with Japan and the Republic of Korea, to ensure the continued viability of the organisation and success in meeting its objectives, thus promoting stability in Northeast Asia and strengthening global non-proliferation efforts. Continue cooperation to advance our goals on human rights and democracy in countries which are of mutual concern.

II. Responding to Global Challenges

Continue to work closely together on counter-terrorism, exchanging information (eg on terrorism fundraising), raising awareness of new threats, and encouraging universal adherence to all 11 international conventions. Explore extending cooperation on drug issues in other regions such as Central Asia and Latin America, including the Andes.

Maintain close cooperation between US law enforcement agencies and the EU Multidisciplinary Group on Organised Crime. In the light of our evaluation, consider whether to expand to other countries our initiative to discourage trafficking in women. Review the possibilities for cooperation on stolen vehicles.

Following signing of the charters inaugurating the Regional Environmental Centres (RECs) in Moldova, Georgia, Russia and Ukraine, ensure they become quickly operational and consider supporting the establishment of a Central Asia. Continue our dialogue on environmental issues, including on the Biosafety Protocol and the follow-up to the Kyoto Protocol. Work to resolve outstanding issues before the November climate change meeting in Buenos Aires. Plan for a Transatlantic Chemicals Conference. Focus the work of the Task Force on Communicable Diseases on surveillance of certain priority diseases, in particular foodborne diseases, and the problem of antimicrobial resistance, as well as on training exchanges, field investigations, and the exchange of information on outbreaks of diseases.

III. Expanding World Trade and Closer Economic Relations

Follow up on our recent discussions on how to take forward our shared trade goals. Continue to implement our joint statement on electronic commerce, giving priority to the urgent issues of date privacy and domain name allocation. Continue to enhance our dialogue on regulatory issues, including those relating to biotechnology. Implement the MRA and seek early signature of the new annexes on veterinary biologics and fasteners. Identify ways of further deepening our cooperation on Intellectual Property Rights with respect to both bilateral and multilateral issues. Building on our ongoing bilateral consultations, explore ways to cooperate in a mutually acceptable framework to develop a global navigation satellite system. Support the various projects of the Transatlantic Small Business Initiative, in particular the EU/US Partnering Meeting in Chicago which will bring together 400 small and medium-sized enterprises. Continue our exchange on macro-economic issues as the EU approaches the third phase of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

Within multilateral fora, reaffirm the importance we attach to our efforts in the OECD to achieve a comprehensive multilateral framework for investment with high standards of liberalisation and investment protection that has effective dispute settlement procedures and is open to non-member countries. Pursue the current work programme on investment in the WTO. Once that programme has been completed, seek the support of all our partners for next steps towards the creation of investment rules in the WTO. Continue work on accession of new members. Pursue our common efforts in the WTO to conclude the negotiations, already well advanced, on expansion in the coverage of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA II). Work to implement the outcome of the May WTO Ministerial.

IV. Building Bridges

Under our Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement, encourage the launch of collaborative projects. Cooperate to ensure a successful, broad-based Vienna Conference on People-to-People Links in October. Implement our projects in Ukraine on civic education, municipal and public administration, transparency, and parliamentary exchange. Seek progress on the establishment of the Transatlantic NGO Dialogue on development, economic, and humanitarian assistance. Support the July visit by Supreme Court Justices to the European institutions.

Contribute to a successful TABD Conference in November and take its recommendations into account in our future work. Actively support the Consumer Dialogue following its launch this summer. Support the work of the Transatlantic Labour Dialogue. Hold a seminar on work organisation in Brussels in June, a conference on disability in the workplace in Madrid in October. Fully support the partnerships established at the Akron forum. Support the follow-up to the successful February symposium on Codes of Conduct and International Labour Standards.