Brussels, 26/10/2009 (Agence Europe) - The fourth Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC) in Washington on Tuesday 27 October, the first to be held under the auspices of the Barack Obama administration, has rather the look of a transition from the time of President George W. Bush to that of the current US President who was inaugurated at the start of 2009. The TEC, which was set up in April 2007, was initially scheduled to meet twice per year but has not met since December 2008, in a meeting which, in the midst of the financial crisis, saw the two sides fail to settle their decade-old dispute on chicken treated with chlorinated water. Commissioners Catherine Ashton (Trade), Neelie Kroes (Competition), Laszló Kovács (Customs) and Meglena Kuneva (Consumer Protection) will form the European delegation along with Swedish Trade Minister and Council President Ewa Björling and their colleague at Industry Günter Verheugen, who will co-chair the TEC with President Obama's deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs Michael Froman. Several members of the Obama cabinet, including Secretary to the Treasury Timothy F. Geithner, Secretary for Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Head of the National Economic Council Lawrence H. Summers, Deputy Industry Secretary Dennis Hightower, Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan and Counsellor to the US Trade Representative (USTR) Peter Cowhey will also attend. Notable absences, however, will be, for the Americans, USTR Ron Kirk and Industry Secretary Gary Locke, and, for the Europeans, Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy. No significant decision is expected on Tuesday, apart from the launch of an Innovation Dialogue, which will focus its attention on five areas for cooperation (innovation policy and promotion of entrepreneurship, R&D cooperation, information and communication technologies (ICT), healthcare-related technologies, and clean energy technologies). TEC discussions will also be dominated by an exchange of views on horizontal and sectoral transatlantic regulatory cooperation (a draft of the progress report which will be adopted lists the food safety, pharmaceutical goods, medical devices cosmetics, chemical products, electric equipment, vehicle engine safety, and toy safety sectors) and discussion of the responses on both sides of the Atlantic to the economic and financial crisis, in particular the legislative proposals drafted by the EU and the US, on which the two partners must ensure compatibility of rules. Preceding the TEC, and taking place as we went to press, was a meeting of the Transatlantic Business Dialogue. (E.H./transl.rt)