Brussels, 29/11/2011 (Agence Europe) - With the multilateral option still blocked, the EU and US are hoping for greater cooperation and transatlantic regulatory rapprochement in the trade arena, in an effort to fully exploit new sources of growth.
Meeting for their annual summit on 28 November in Washington, European and American leaders confirmed their commitment at the G20 to a multilateral trade system and free trade, and therefore their resistance to protectionism. Although they still remain committed to pushing forward and concluding the WTO Doha Round on the basis of new “credible approaches” to further develop in 2012, transatlantic partners also support progress in the trade field at a bilateral level. The Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC) is committed to helping in this task and held a new session on Tuesday mainly based on the results obtained on security in trade and the supply chain, electric vehicles and related infrastructure, regulatory practices, small and medium-sized enterprises and ICT, as underlined in the summit's final declaration. On Monday, Europeans and Americans confirmed their commitment to supporting a rapprochement in their regulation and standards that impact on trade, particularly in key sectors such as nano-technology and raw materials but also with regard to strategic economic questions, such as innovation and investment policy and the protection of intellectual property rights. Finally, the transatlantic partners agreed to step up their joint efforts to “free up the unused potential for transatlantic economic co-operation to generate new employment and growth opportunities, particularly in emerging sectors”. To this end, the TEC is being called on to set up a high-level joint employment and growth working group, which will provide recommendations in this connection by the end of 2012. (EH/transl.fl)