Brussels, Belgium - The European Union's executive body approved a plan to strengthen trade ties with the United States, calling for the removal of regulatory barriers and steps to preempt damaging trade disputes.
The draft action plan adopted by the European Commission sets out the EU's goals for the Transatlantic Economic Partnership (TEP, a new trade initiative which U.S. President Bill Clinton and EU leaders agreed to launch last May.
The action plan must still be approved by the 15 EU governments and agreed to by the United States.
The Commission hopes the EU and the United States will formally adopt the plan at their next summit in December in Washington. Some proposals require negotiations with the United States, others do not.
The EU and United States are each other's largest trading partner. The EU says its exports to the United States were worth 140.8 billion Ecus ($162 billion) in 1997 while imports from the United States were 136.8 billion Ecus.
The action plan maps out steps and negotiations during 1999 aimed at removing regulatory barriers to transatlantic trade in goods and services. This would include closer cooperation between EU and U.S. regulators.
A central aim is to reduce the potential for damaging trade disputes of the kind that have dogged transatlantic relations in recent years, such as a row over an EU ban on imports of beef treated with growth hormones.
The Commission's plan calls for closer scientific coordination and an early warning system to minimize disputes in areas such as food safety and genetically modified crops -- both fertile areas for quarrels.
It proposes extending mutual recognition agreements, which cover product testing and specifications, and suggests that the EU and United States recognize each other's professional qualifications for architects and engineers. It proposes transatlantic liberalization in government procurement.
The plan also calls for regular dialogue with Washington with the aim of coordinating their approaches "wherever possible" in global trade negotiations starting at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2000.
The EU has long called for a comprehensive Millennium round of global trade talks, not just the talks on agriculture and services which have already been agreed to. The United States is lukewarm to a comprehensive round, but Commission officials are eager to persuade it to support the idea.
Meat Industry Insights News Service
P.O. Box 553
Northport, NY 11768
Phone: 631-757-4010
Fax: 631-757-4060
E-mail: sflanagan@sprintmail.com
Return to Home Page