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Ärende: Press Release (0704304) for Mon, 2007 Apr 30
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Framework for Advancing Transatlantic Economic Integration Between the
United States of America and the European Union
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For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary April 30, 2007

Framework for Advancing Transatlantic Economic Integration Between the
United States of America and the European Union

˙˙White House News

˙˙˙˙˙ President Bush Meets with EU Leaders, Chancellor Merkel of the
Federal Republic of Germany and President Barroso of the European Council
and President of the European Commission ˙˙˙˙˙ In Focus: Global Diplomacy

We, leaders of the United States of America and the European Union (EU):

Believing that deeper transatlantic economic integration and growth will
benefit our citizens and the competitiveness of our economies, will have
global benefits, will facilitate market access for third countries and will
encourage other countries to adopt the transatlantic economic model of
respect for property rights, openness to investment, transparency and
predictability in regulation, and the value of free markets;

Affirming our shared commitment to increase the transparency and efficiency
of our economic cooperation and to accelerate the reduction of barriers to
international trade and investment;

Desiring to improve the effectiveness of existing economic cooperation and
to elevate and accelerate existing work to achieve tangible progress;

Recognizing that the transatlantic economy remains at the forefront of
globalization, and that the United States and the European Union are each
other's most important economic partners, reflecting historical ties as
well as a wide range of common fundamental values, such as the importance
of free enterprise, rule of law, property rights, free trade, and
competition, and the protection of health, safety and the environment for
our citizens and workers;

Reaffirming our commitment to the 2005 U.S.-EU Summit Declaration on
Enhancing Transatlantic Economic Integration and Growth, in which we
resolved to pursue a forward-looking agenda to enhance transatlantic
economic integration and growth, and our commitments from the June 2006
Summit to redouble our efforts to reduce barriers to transatlantic trade
and investment and our pledge to keep our investment regimes open and to
build on existing investment flows to boost growth and create jobs in the
transatlantic economy;

Recognizing further that we have established a wide range of joint work in
the areas of regulatory cooperation, financial markets, trade and transport
security, innovation and technological development, intellectual property
rights, energy, investment, competition, services, and government
procurement;

Welcoming the launch of a study funded by the European Commission to
identify existing barriers to trade and investment and estimate the
benefits of removing such barriers.

Have reached the following shared understandings:

Section I Purposes

We seek to strengthen transatlantic economic integration, with the goal of
improving competitiveness and the lives of our people. To that end, this
Framework reaffirms a multi-year program of cooperation that emphasizes
results and provides accountability.

Section II
Fostering Cooperation and Reducing Regulatory Burdens

In light of our shared commitment to removing barriers to transatlantic
commerce; to rationalizing, reforming, and, where appropriate, reducing
regulations to empower the private sector; to achieving more effective,
systematic and transparent regulatory cooperation to reduce costs
associated with regulation to consumers and producers; to removing
unnecessary differences between our regulations to foster economic
integration; to reinforce the existing transatlantic dialogue structures in
regulatory cooperation both by intensifying our sector-by-sector EU-U.S.
regulatory cooperation and our dialogue between the U.S. Office of
Management and Budget and European Commission services on methodological
issues: we resolve to achieve the goals set out in Annex 1 in a timely
manner.

Section III
Lighthouse Priority Projects

We have identified in Annex 2 priority growth projects, selected from the
existing work program and other programs within the existing transatlantic
dialogue, that will significantly enhance transatlantic economic
integration, and we resolve to achieve progress on these projects within
six to eight months of the effective date of this Framework, and at latest
by the time of the 2008 EU-U.S. Summit. We resolve that future priorities
are to be reflected by updating the Lighthouse Priority Projects identified
in Annex 2.

Section IV
Transatlantic Economic Council

The Transatlantic Economic Council is hereby established, to be co-chaired,
on the U.S. side, by a U.S. Cabinet-level official in the Executive Office
of the President (currently Allan Hubbard) and on the EU side by a Member
of the European Commission (currently Vice President Guenter Verheugen),
collaborating closely with the EU Presidency. The Council is to:

1. Oversee the efforts outlined in this Framework, with the goal of
accelerating progress;
2. Guide work between U.S.-EU Summits with a focus on achieving results,
including setting goals for achieving the purposes of this Framework,
developing metrics, setting deadlines and targets, and monitoring progress;
3. Adopt a work program, drawn initially from the existing work program
under the 2005 U.S.-EC Economic Initiative, with the goal of achieving the
objectives of this Framework, and shall adapt this work program and
otherwise organize its activities in the manner best suited to achieving
those objectives;
4. Review at least semi-annually its progress in achieving the objectives
of this Framework;
5. Facilitate joint action under this Framework to advance its purposes;
6. Review ongoing U.S.-EU economic engagement in order to maximize progress
in existing transatlantic dialogues with a view to consider phasing out
technical dialogues that have completed their work or are otherwise no
longer necessary;
7. Meet at least once a year at such time as the co-chairs decide;
8. Oversee preparation of annual reports to the U.S.-EU Summit leaders on
goals, metrics for meeting those goals, deadlines, achievements, and areas
where more progress is needed;
9. Facilitate closer cooperation between the United States and European
Union and our legislators and stakeholders;
10. Convene a group comprised of individuals experienced in transatlantic
issues drawing in particular from the heads of existing transatlantic
dialogues to provide input and guidance to the U.S.-EU Summit on priorities
for pursuing transatlantic economic integration; and
11. Include representatives of other governmental entities as the Council
determines to be appropriate.

Section V
Work Program of Cooperation

We resolve to work to promote transatlantic economic integration in the
following areas: intellectual property rights, investment, secure trade,
financial markets, and innovation as set forth in the attached Annexes 2-7.

Signed at Washington, D.C., on this thirtieth day of April, 2007, in three
originals.

FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
George W. Bush
President

FOR THE EUROPEAN UNION:

Angela Merkel
President of the European Council

José Manuel Barroso
President of the European Commission

Annex 1
Fostering Cooperation and Reducing Regulatory Burdens

A. Take the following steps to reduce barriers to transatlantic economic
integration posed by new regulations by reinforcing the existing
transatlantic dialogue structures:

1. Pursue development of a methodological framework to help ensure the
comparability of impact assessments, particularly risk assessment and
cost-benefit analysis;
2. Appoint heads of regulatory authorities as permanent members of the U.S.
- EU High-Level Regulatory Cooperation Forum to report on any risks or
benefits from significant differences in regulatory approaches identified
in the sectoral dialogues or the European Commission Secretariat General
(EC)-U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) dialogue called for under
the 2005 U.S.-EU Economic Initiative, recognizing that the Financial
Markets Regulatory Dialogue will continue its own, separate, work program
described in Annex 6, and updating the Council on its progress as
appropriate.
3. Reinforce the existing transatlantic dialogue on regulatory cooperation
by cooperating to improve regulation, specifically through cooperation
between OMB and the EC to:
a) Taking into account, among other things, the impact assessment
considerations in place, evaluate progress regarding this cooperation, and
consider a more formal basis to enhance this cooperation;
b) Intensify their dialogue focusing on issues of methodology;
c) Hold regular and active exchanges on the overall framework of our
regulatory co-operation and on methodological issues which may arise in
individual cases;
d) Review the application of their respective regulatory impact analysis
guidelines so that the regulatory impacts on trade and investment are
considered, as appropriate; and
e) Share forward planning schedules.

B. Take the following steps to reduce barriers to transatlantic economic
integration posed by regulations in specific sectors by intensifying
sector-by-sector regulatory cooperation, including through enhanced EC-OMB
cooperation, including the following:

1. Encourage further cooperation in the areas of agriculture, sanitary and
phyto-sanitary measures, and food safety;
2. Promote the application of the 2002 U.S.-EU Guidelines for Regulatory
Cooperation and Transparency for specific sectoral pilot projects to be
determined in consultation with stakeholders. We agree to discuss
additional pilot projects on a case-by-case basis for exploring improved
US-EU regulatory cooperation.
3. Pursue implementation of the Roadmap for Regulatory Cooperation,
including the following priority projects to be pursued in 2007 and 2008:
a) Collaborating on cosmetics regulations, in particular with a view to
reducing the need for animal tests by cooperating on alternative testing
methods;
b) Seeking final agreement between U.S. and EU regulators on shifting
resources away from implementation of the Medical Device Annex of the
Mutual Recognition Agreement between the United States and the European
Community to a more productive bilateral collaboration on medical devices;
c) Promoting administrative simplification in the application of regulation
of medicinal products;
d) Addressing common concerns in the automotive sector in the area of road
safety and fuel economy in order to avoid or reduce barriers to
transatlantic trade;
e) Expanding cooperation on OECD activities relating to risk assessment,
Good Laboratory Practices and the Globally Harmonized System of
Classification and Labelling of Chemicals, study templates, information
technology for data submissions, as well as on alternative test methods
(QSAR), test methods and risks of manufactured nanomaterials; and
f) Initiating an exchange on conformity assessment procedures for the
safety of electrical equipment.

Annex 2 Lighthouse Priority Projects

A. Intellectual Property Rights. Develop procedures for the exchange of
information relating to goods suspected of infringing intellectual property
rights, the exchange of customs officials, and the organisation of joint
technical assistance and/or enforcement missions and seek progress in the
harmonisation of the different patent regimes.
B. Secure trade. Develop common and accepted standards to maximize
security, safety and facilitation of international trade supply chain that
could lead to mutual recognition of programs for economic operators. Begin
to exchange information on validation results associated with the Customs
Trade Partnership Against Terrorism and Authorized Economic Operator
programs in order to avoid the duplication of controls and to reduce
business costs by avoiding divergent control requirements, as appropriate.
C. Financial Markets. Promote and seek to ensure conditions for the U.S.
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and International Financial
Reporting Standards to be recognized in both jurisdictions without the need
for reconciliation by 2009 or possibly sooner.
D. Innovation and Technology.
1. Conduct a high-level conference on innovation in health-related
industries and a workshop on best practices in innovation policies;
2. Develop a joint framework for cooperation on identification and
development of best practices for Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
technologies and develop a work plan to promote the interoperability of
electronic health record systems;
3. Develop a science-based work plan for EU-U.S. collaboration on
innovative and eco-efficient biobased products;
4. Establish a joint research infrastructure for mouse functional genomics
(following a joint meeting in 2007 in Belgium);
5. Sponsor joint workshops or conferences to foster the exchange of
information on nanotechnology in areas of mutual interest.
E. Investment. Establish a regular dialogue to address obstacles to
investment

Annex 3
Intellectual Property Rights

In order to enhance recognition and enforcement of intellectual property
rights, we resolve to:

A. Cooperate on improving the efficiency and the effectiveness of the
patent system at the global level to promote innovation, employment, and
competitiveness, and seek progress in the harmonisation of the different
patent regimes;
B. Implement the EU-U.S. Action Strategy on Intellectual Property Rights
Enforcement, including stepping up joint efforts in all areas, in
particular:
a. Continue to advance a constructive discussion of enforcement at the WTO
TRIPS Council and to explore other possible vehicles for advancing
international cooperation on IPR enforcement among countries sharing common
interests in this area;
b. Strengthen customs cooperation, including exchange of information
relating to goods suspected of infringing intellectual property rights and
statistics on the seizures of such goods, as well as programs to exchange
officials and best practices;
c. Work jointly to improve the IPR protection and enforcement in China and
Russia, increase cooperation in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East,
including the extension of the IPR networks to these regions;
d. Expand joint technical assistance initiatives in Asia and Latin America,
including the organization of work shops, seminars and on-site training;
and
e. Improve public-private coordination and cooperation on
anti-counterfeiting and anti-piracy education, public awareness and
business practices.

Annex 4
Investment

In order to reduce barriers to transatlantic trade and investment, keep
investment regimes open, and build on existing investment flows to boost
growth and create jobs, we resolve to:

A. Continue close co-operation in the OECD with regard to studying and
fostering policy reforms that are conducive to attracting investment;
B. Engage in regular discussions of laws, policies and practices that could
impact investments in the EU and the United States;
C. Develop work to prevent, eliminate or reduce the impact from investment
barriers, with special attention being given to small and medium-sized
enterprises.

Annex 5
Secure Trade

As common standards and mutual recognition of standards where possible in
trade partnership programs can strengthen security of the supply chain
against terrorist exploitation or commercial fraud, such as counterfeiting
while improving efficiency by eliminating redundant reviews, we resolve to:

A. Work together to improve international enforcement in the fight against
fraud and illegal spam and spyware in view of the enactment of the
Undertaking Spam, Spyware and Fraud Enforcement With Enforcers Beyond
Borders Act of 2006 (US SAFE WEB Act) in the United States and adoption of
the EU Consumer Protection Regulation.
B. Establish a pilot project to study the similarities and differences in
requirements for the U.S. and EU's respective trade partnership programs
with the goal of developing a roadmap to facilitate mutual recognition of
those operators that are authorized as secure on the basis of mutually
acceptable security standards and requirements; and
C. Strive to ensure that any mutually recognized trade partnership programs
provide comparable benefits to the other Party's recognized operators.

Annex 6
Financial Markets

In light of the considerable differences that exist between financial
market structure and regulation on both sides of the Atlantic, and given
the consolidation underway globally and transatlantically in this sector,
we resolve to take steps, towards the convergence, equivalence or mutual
recognition, where appropriate, of regulatory standards based on high
quality principles. In particular, we resolve to maintain the existing
informal Financial Markets Regulatory Dialogue and focus on the following
areas:

A. Strengthen cooperation to promote smooth implementation of the Basel II
framework for banks, notably to address transitional issues and minimize
differences of implementation between the EU and United States;
B. Promote conditions for the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
and International Financial Reporting Standards to be recognized in both
jurisdictions without the need for reconciliation by 2009 or possibly
sooner;
C. Fully support roadmap discussions between the Public Company Accounting
Oversight Board and the European Commission in the area of auditor
oversight;
D. Advance convergence in the area of reinsurance regulation;
E. Work on greater regulatory convergence towards highest quality and most
effective regulation and, where appropriate, mutual recognition in the
fields of securities regulation; and
F. Increase cooperation between EU and U.S. financial regulators.

Annex 7
Innovation and Technology

Acknowledging the importance of research and innovation to promoting
competitiveness and improving qualify of life, we resolve to:

A. Conduct an exchange of innovation experts to discuss best practices;
B. Exchange views on policy options for emerging technologies, or new
technological applications, in particular in the field of nanotechnology,
cloning or biotechnologies;
C. Explore possibility to launch common research actions paving the way to
a level playing field for nanotechnology-based products in the globalised
market, namely co- and pre-normative research;
D. Reinforce cooperation on eAccessibility, including continued EC
participation in the U.S. Access Board process of standards revision,
ensuring U.S. participation in the European standards-making process on
public procurements on eAccessibility, and considering wider cooperation to
improve the accessibility and mobility in the built environment;
E. Work together on interoperability of electronic health record systems;
F. Exchange best practices on all dimensions related to RFID;
G. Develop a framework of regulation and payment policies that promote
innovation;
H. Exchange knowledge and experience on the use of information and
communication technologies to improve traffic safety;
I. Launch our Standards Dialogue as an overarching framework to discuss
specific standards-related issues; and
J. Collaborate on innovation indicators and how data helps policymakers
understand what drives innovation and its affects on economic performance.

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