Brussels, 29/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - At the invitation of Angela Merkel, German Chancellor and President-in-office of the Council, Industry Commissioner Günter Verheugen and Allan Hubard, Economic Advisor to the US president, held their first meeting in Berlin on Monday within the framework of the Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC) set up during the last EU/US Summit (see EUROPE 9418). The TEC has the task of following up and adjusting objectives of the “framework” to speed up the rate of transatlantic economic integration, adopted in Berlin on 30 April. It must also oversee and speed up implementation of the transatlantic cooperation initiatives covered by the “framework” affecting five areas: - norms and standardisation, intellectual property rights, security, trade facilitation and security, innovation and technology, and financial markets and investment.
At their first meeting, Mr Hubard announced the United States' commitment to making its accounting rules more flexible in order to allow European companies to be quoted on US markets without having to convert their standards to the American accounting standards (US GAAP), while Europe gives preference to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Ms Merkel welcomed the “very concrete progress” made possible, she said, by this new consultation body, the TEC. (eh)