THE BEST ONE YET: !!!!
May 19, 1998
No. 45/98
EU-US SUMMIT LAUNCHES NEW TRADE INITIATIVE
A new initiative called the Transatlantic Economic Partnership (TEP) was launched by US President Bill Clinton, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and European Commission President Jacques Santer at the May 18 EU-US summit in London yesterday. The summit was the sixth of the twice-yearly meetings of the EU and US leadership since the New Transatlantic Agenda of December 1995.
According to the communique comprising all the statements released after the London summit, the Transatlantic Economic Partnership (TEP) aims at strengthening the multilateral system while working to remove remaining trade barriers across the Atlantic. Under the TEP, both sides will draw up an action plan to reduce or eliminate barriers to trade and investment, and boost multilateral liberalization and the work of the World Trade Organization.
The complete set of statements from the London EU-US summit is available on the European Commission's Washington website.
Transatlantic Economic Partnership (TEP)
"The time has come to build on the NTA's highly significant achievements. Accordingly, we agree to reinforce our close relationship through an initiative involving the intensification and extension of multilateral trade and bilateral cooperation and common actions in the field of trade and investment. Our reinforced partnership can be instrumental in setting the agenda for a more open and accessible world trading system and at the same time greatly improve the economic relationship between the EU and US, reduce frictions between us, and promote prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic."
On the multilateral side, the TEP, among other things, calls for full implementation of WTO commitments and respect for dispute settlement obligations, multilateral negotiations for the continuation of agricultural reform, the development of a comprehensive framework for electronic commerce in the WTO, the further integration of developing countries into the multilateral trading system, and the development of common approaches on investment, competition, public procurement and trade and environment.
On the bilateral side, making as much progress as possible before 2000, the EU and US "will focus on those barriers that really matter to transatlantic trade, and to this end we will aim in particular at the removal of those regulatory barriers that hinder market opportunities, both for goods and services." The TEP will target in particular technical barriers to trade in goods, improving opportunities for trade in services, strengthening regulatory cooperation in animal, plant and human health, opening public procurement markets, and improving the protection of copyrights.
Transatlantic Partnership on Political Cooperation
The summit also issued a statement on Transatlantic Partnership on Political Cooperation. In it, the EU and the US pledge to intensify consultations for more effective cooperation in response to threats to democracy around the world. On the use of economic sanctions, the EU and US agreed on a new set of principles applying to future sanctions. According to the statement, economic sanctions should only be used as a last resort. "Whenever possible, effective measures taken by the UN Security Council are the optimal approach."
In a clear departure from past experience with extraterritoriality, the EU and the US agreed that "a partner will not seek or propose and will resist the passage of new economic sanctions legislation based on foreign policy grounds which is designed to make economic operators of the other behave in a manner similar to that required of its own economic operators."
Understanding on Disciplines in Investment In Expropriated Properties
The summit was also successful in formulating and agreeing measures to end the long-standing transatlantic disputes involving the extraterritorial and secondary boycott provisions of the Iran Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) and the Helms-Burton Act. On Helms Burton, both sides agreed on disciplines to strengthen investment protection and to deter and inhibit future investment in illegally expropriated property in Cuba. These measures will apply once the US Congress modifies Title IV of the Helms-Burton Act so that the President can exercise waiver power, and as long as the waiver for Title III remains in place. On ILSA, the US announced its intention to waive sanctions against EU companies.
An EU Statement on the decisions relating to Helms-Burton and ILSA welcomes the progress made at the summit as offering "the prospect of a lasting resolution of our differences with the US over these Acts."
Other
Other results of the summit are set out in a series of joint declarations and statements, in particular:
a Statement of shared EU-US Objectives and Close cooperation on Counter Terrorism. There will be more information sharing, closer coordination, and greater international cooperation.
an EU-US Declaration on Common Orientation of Non-Proliferation Policy. Here too there will be more information sharing, closer coordination, and enhanced assistance to other countries to help strengthen their export control regimes.
an EU-US Statement on Caspian Energy Issues. The EU and US have agreed that these will contribute to prosperity, energy security and regional stability, on the importance of multiple pipe-line routes, and that commercial considerations will first and foremost determine decisions on the development of specific projects and export routes.
a report to the summit by a Senior-Level Group (SLG) of EU and US Officials.
EU-US Civil Society and Democracy Awards
Also at the summit, the EU and the US announced the winners of the Democracy and Civil Society awards which were established last year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Marshall Plan and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, as well as the 40th Anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. Fifty awards worth $20,000 each were presented for outstanding contributions to democracy and civil society to winners from Central and Eastern Europe (including ex-Yugoslavia), the New Independent States and Mongolia.
President Clinton, Prime Minister Blair and President Santer presented the certificates to a selected group of winners, while similar ceremonies were taking place for other winners across Europe. At the ceremony in London, President Santer made the following statement:
"I am especially pleased that a substantial proportion of the winners of the EU-US Democracy and Civil Society Awards have been associated with the EU's Democracy Program. It proves the value of these programs and underlines the EU's Commitment to developing stable democracies across Europe."
The EU's Democracy Program was launched in 1992 and has an annual budget of between $22-27.5 million. Most of its grants go to non-governmental organizations (NGOs). For more information on the winning projects, please consult the European Commission's website under the EU's Human Rights Policy at: europa.eu.int.
Press Contacts:
Ella Krucoff
Tel: (202) 862-9540
Maeve O'Beirne
Tel: (202) 862-9549
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