Brussels, 08/09/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission and the United States reached agreement last week on a "Memorandum of Understanding" to be signed very shortly, and which stipulates a series of changes to be made to the Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) in force between the United States and eight of the ten accession countries of Central and Eastern Europe, as of 1 May 2004. It turned out that several provisions of the agreements, which the United States concluded at the beginning of the 1990s (after the fall of the Iron Curtain) with Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania, are incompatible with the Community acquis, especially those granting preferential treatment to American investors. On this basis, American investors could, for instance, benefit from various agricultural subsidies granted under the CAP and which are reserved only for Community farmers. According to the same agreements, American investors established in these accession countries would also benefit from subsidies and production quotas in the field of audiovisuals, explained the Commission. After several months of negotiation with the Americans, the Commission last week said that it believed it had obtained sufficient guarantees to be able to sign an agreement with the United States and accession countries putting an end to these unjustified advantages. It states notably that the Americans have agreed to forgo preferential treatment in sensitive areas (agriculture; audiovisuals, transport, financial and investment services, fisheries, energy). However, the agreement still does not cover matters related to the option for the Council of Ministers of the EU to take safeguard measures to preserve the functioning of the EMU (as provided for by article 59 of the Treaty), for example by limiting the movement of capital between EU countries and third countries. Consultations on this point are continuing. The United States reacted positively to the Commission's approval of the Memorandum. "The United States support the enlargement of the EU and we are satisfied that we have come to an agreement which maintains a positive investment framework in the accession countries, and which brings us closer to the objective of bringing the United States' BITs with accession countries into line with their obligations as members of the EU", commented the United States mission to the EU.