Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-11-10-Speech-3-032"
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"en.20101110.14.3-032"2
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"Mr President, Baroness Ashton could not be with us today so I will cover both the EU-US summit and the Transatlantic Economic Council — often called the TEC. As you know, the summit will take place in Lisbon on 20 November; it needs to demonstrate the added value of the EU-US partnership and its continued relevance in the 21st century.
On energy policy: the EU-US Energy Council will meet on the eve of the summit; it will continue to work on framing joint responses to energy security. Our intention is that the summit should ask the Energy Council to intensify EU-US cooperation on the development and deployment of green energy technologies and promote exchanges between our researchers to allow them to participate freely in each other’s energy research programmes. This work supports both our efforts on climate change and the creation of new jobs.
We are aware of the deep concern amongst our citizens about the impact of the global climate change. At the summit, we will press the US on the need for the Cancún conference to deliver a significant step towards a comprehensive global framework for tackling climate change.
On development: the EU and the US are the world’s leading aid donors. As well as working on implementing millennium development goals on food security and helping the poorest countries adapt to climate change, we need to work closely on coordinating our efforts in the recipient countries so as to maximise the effectiveness and impact of our aid and avoid duplication of effort.
On security: recognising that fundamental rights and the security of citizens are complementary and mutually reinforcing; we need to ensure that there is a good balance between the two in all of our work. I know that Viviane Reding will discuss this important issue, including the agreement on passenger name records, with you later today. The EU and the US must also work together in a more comprehensive way to tackle new threats to the global networks, such as cyber effects and cyber crime.
Finally, in the foreign policy arena, we will stress our joint strategies and maximise our impact. We must support the Middle East peace process, with the aim of achieving a framework for agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority within a year. On Iran, the EU has delivered on tougher sanctions while, at the same time, being strongly committed to seeking engagement with Iran.
So overall, the summit will cover a range of issues that lie at the heart of the transatlantic relationship. I look forward to the debates that will now ensue.
Let me take this opportunity to welcome the active contribution of the European Parliament to EU-US relations and inform Members about our objectives for the summit. The EU and the US are still suffering from the aftermath of the economic crisis. Therefore, the economy and jobs will be at the heart of the summit’s discussions.
We will start by reviewing relevant results of the G20 summit and will discuss our respective contributions to sustainable and balanced global recovery. We also want the summit to underline the need to conclude an ambitious, comprehensive and balanced agreement in the WTO on the Doha Development Agenda. We will state our joint intent to resist protectionism at home and abroad. We will focus on expanding the economic benefits of the transatlantic economy. As regards the Transatlantic Economic Council, I very much welcome your ideas as expressed in the resolution.
I would like to underline three elements in particular: the importance of strengthening the strategic components of the Transatlantic Economic Council; the need for the TEC to support and foster cooperation on all matters affecting the regulatory environment for industries and consumers in the EU and the US; and the crucial role of legislators in becoming guardians and actors in the convergence of our approaches.
Let me tell you some of my own views on EU-US relations and why I think the TEC is of importance. The EU and the US are the world’s most integrated economies; we are each other’s largest trade and investment partners; we share common values and responsibilities for tackling global challenges on a variety of issues, be it innovation or environmental challenges, energy security or access to raw materials. Even if our respective approaches to economic and regulatory issues remain different, consumer safety and data protection illustrate this.
What comforts me is our proven ability to work together when times get tough. We pooled our efforts very effectively in fighting the economic and financial crisis; our joint pledge at the G20 and WTO has helped to fend off protectionist moves. Two years on, the EU and the US are now moving towards the next phase: the creation of smart and sustainable growth and jobs while facing serious challenges and increasing competition from emerging economies.
The question is: how can reinforced cooperation with the US help us to get there? In my view, both the EU and the US need to rethink and probably redefine the transatlantic partnership to adapt to the new situation. We need to ask ourselves today what the transatlantic market place should look like in 2020. Will the EU and the US be leaders in innovative technologies which have the capacity to transform society, such as electric cars and smart grids? Will they succeed in jointly promoting open ICT services networks and transparent regulation? Will our SMEs prosper and access new markets by protecting their intellectual property rights? Will consumers benefit from information exchanges between the US and the EU on dangerous products? How will we approach security threats and terrorism? By unilateral activism or by relying on more effective and mutually agreed solutions to foster secure trade? How should we approach economic challenges posed by emerging economies in areas including intellectual property rights, access to raw materials or subsidisation of domestic industries? The relaunch of the TEC is an attempt to develop this strategic relationship.
With my counterpart, the US Co-Chair of the TEC, Michael Froman, we have agreed to set new directions. We envisage the TEC as the main political platform where we can discuss economic issues, strategic issues – including third country issues – and regulatory issues. In advising the Commission and the US Administration, legislators, businesses and consumers have provided and should continue to provide crucial input and come up with possible transatlantic solutions to existing and potential problems.
The next TEC meeting will take place on 17 December in Washington. It should focus on three main themes: innovation and emerging technologies; building the transatlantic market place and building the strategies for greening our economies."@en1
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