One can only welcome the latest developments in relations between the EU and the United States because the EU-US connection is one of the foundations of prosperity in Europe and balance in the world in general. But that does not mean we should exaggerate the scope and significance of the concrete initiatives announced at the 30 April Summit (see following pages). They cover a significant but limited area of transatlantic relations. Big political issues were not discussed, apart from the approval of a statement which neither President Bush not Angela Merkel probably even read. Even in the economic field, the most controversial issues were left to one side, like views on the Doha Trade Round negotiations and the euro-dollar exchange rate. Two areas could lead to concrete decisions - bilateral economic relations moving towards a market operating according to common rules (where a positive outcome was reached) and better coordination in the field of energy and global warming (the summit did not move beyond statements of principle here).
Ambitions and reality. A transatlantic economic partnership to facilitate trade by scrapping legal and administrative barriers has long been a demand of European business circles. The aim is sometimes described as setting up a transatlantic common market, which I feel goes too far and is deceptive. The idea of a common market is connected with scrapping customs duties and traditional restrictions on trade, which does not apply I at all here. The aim is to deal with other types of obstacles by bringing legislation closer together and averting disguised protectionism (including under the heading of 'counter-terrorism'). These are not new subjects - the TABD (Transatlantic Business Dialogue) and other bodies have been dealing with them for a long time. What was lacking was commitment at the top levels of politics.
Angela Merkel added this commitment to the programme of the six months of the German Presidency, and it gave rise to misunderstanding and misgivings at the start. Some superficial commentators even talked about relaunching Sir Leon Brittan's old idea (aiming in reality at free trade). The mistrust in the US might have been linked to fears of restrictions of the autonomy of Congress. It is true that the functioning of a genuine common market presupposes the transfer of powers to supra-national bodies, as the example of the EU demonstrates. But the objectives were more modest here - making trade easier by introducing uniformity of rules and allowing a level of reciprocal recognition of non-uniform rules. All economic activity is in the firing line, including areas excluded from the Doha Trade Round or only covered to a very partial extent like investment, services, public tendering and intellectual property. In theory, these markets are already liberalised but people want to improve the way they operate, leaving the Doha Round to focus on cutting customs duties and leaving farming to one side (it is connected with other concerns, like protecting nature, balancing land use among big cities and rural areas, food autonomy and using surpluses as food aid (which runs the risk of becoming more necessary)). All this depends in Europe on maintaining the EU preference and in the US on maintaining subsidy mechanisms. The new instruments will not have the power to take this on.
Win-win. To put it simply - the new transatlantic partnership, of which the EU-US Summit set the foundations, basically meets the desires of the business world, industry and trade. The new Transatlantic Economic Council - co-chaired by Günther Verheugen, Vice-President of the European Commission - will oversee very concrete work on transparency and the compatibility of standards for pharmaceuticals and cosmetics (alternatives to animal testing), car standards (security and fuel consumption), accounting standards (mutual recognition of US and EU standards while awaiting harmonisation), and combatting piracy and counterfeiting (cooperation and joint action against abuse).
Benefits will accrue from all these economic and social categories because trade between the EU and the US accounts for around 40% of global trade and, according to some studies, 14 million jobs, and consumers too have everything to gain from genuine competition respecting uniform rules. But all the same, it would be going too far to talk of a new era in EU-US relations...
(F.R.)