Brussels, 19/07/2000 (Agence Europe) - The United States and the European Union are seeking to finalise a "sort of transatlantic dialogue" involving governments and the private sector, with a view to facilitating the development of electronic commerce and what some call the "new economy", while others call it the "knowledge based economy". This project mainly aims to "marry" the American and European approaches beyond simple arrangements on the safety of personal data, called "Safe Harbor", the implementation of which must be flexible, and to trigger off potential conflicts with an early warning system specific to electronic commerce. The idea was the focus of talks which took place at the beginning of the week in Brussels and in the European capitals, where a senior official of the Clinton Administration, Robert Larussa, Under-Secretary for International Trade, stopped over.
The Administration is trying to leave a legacy in this field, by ensuring that the fruit of this new economy is propagated, and by introducing many new intrants, with the creation of new jobs, etc., explained Mr Larussa during a press conference which closed a series of meetings at the European Commission, the European Parliament and also with business circles and the authorities of certain Member States. The Americans, however, distinguish the Union from the other regions and third countries invited to take part in this system. With the EU and its Member Sates, which have their own approach, it seems to them necessary and desirable to identify subjects of common concern on which each party tends to reflect individually. There are also regulatory issues (including consumer protection, dispute settlement) and taxation, he added. Hence the present attempt to develop a sort of process or rather dialogue in which the governments and the business circles can tackle all this together. It is not a matter of creating a process in addition to what already exists (TABD, regular summits, etc.) but rather of seeking "Euro-American interaction, of working together and of agreeing on the different aspects of electronic commerce", while allowing business circles "to guide us", he specified. In this context, Washington recommends consultation "before taking any specific track" in order to avoid laborious (but "very constructive") negotiations like those concerning the American safe harbour system. The arrangement reached in this respect is the solution to the question of confidentiality, but it is an evolutive process which requires flexibility from both sides in order to manage its implementation", he insisted, thus ruling out the prospect of starting back at zero again with renegotiation.
Other subjects were discussed but those which are painful, like the American plan for "carrousel" retaliation, were only mentioned in the context of a general and on the whole consensual overview, said Mr Larussa. He found it normal that one should speculate when something announced is delayed but, he said, in the case of these sanctions, "it is simply because they involve a great deal of work".