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Ärende: Press Release (0704305) for Mon, 2007 Apr 30
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Press Briefing by Senior Administration Officials on the U.S.-EU Summit
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For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary April 30, 2007

Press Briefing by Senior Administration Officials on the U.S.-EU Summit Via
Conference Call

˙˙Press Briefings

˙˙˙˙˙ U.S. - E.U. Summit 2007

4:15 P.M. EDT

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Hi. I'd like to just cover three topics
that were discussed by the leaders and on which there's been a lot of work
leading up to the summit.

The first one is the framework for advancing transatlantic economic
integration. The three leaders -- President Barroso, Chancellor Merkel and
President Bush -- signed this today, and they spent a significant portion
of their time together this morning discussing the importance of this
agreement and the path that it really lays out for finding ways to reduce
barriers to transatlantic economic trade and investment.

The agreement that was signed has three components of it that are worth
mentioning. The first is a regulatory focus on finding ways to converge our
different regulatory structure and our regulatory approaches when possible,
and also reduce and streamline regulations when possible. As we've
interacted with the business communities on both sides of the Atlantic, a
consistent set of feedback that we've received is that the very different
regulatory frameworks pose real barriers to economic advancement and growth
in both economies.

So there's a regulatory focus, in terms of determining how to best develop
regulations in the future, and also how to reduce the regulatory burden in
key areas for sectoral cooperation. These areas include food safety and
cosmetics, medical devices, automotive safety, chemicals and others.

Another part of the economic agreement, or the transatlantic economic
integration agreement, is a set of priority projects focused on
intellectual property rights and secure trade, financial markets,
consolidation, investment promotion and innovation and technology. The
Europeans often refer to these at lighthouse projects, and the Chancellor
specifically spent some time thinking and talking about how important these
projects are for the transatlantic economic relationship.

And then, finally, the agreement includes a transatlantic economic council,
which is chaired by Al Hubbard on the U.S. side, and Vice President
Verheugen, on the European side. And this group will convene key
ministerial level members from both sides, as well as key constituents into
a common dialogue that will assess the progress and focus of this
transatlantic effort.

So there was a good bit of time focused on this agreement and all three
leaders really highlighted what an important path this laid out for our
future economic activity and advancement. They all noted that the agreement
is an ambitious one and the important next step now is getting past the
words and really executing on what are a very important set of priorities.

The second topic that the leaders spoke about -- and probably spent the
most amount of time in their discussion on this topic -- is the Doha round.
And they made it very clear that this transatlantic economic agreement,
which focuses on those specific projects and on the regulatory environment
is a very different set of activities than the multilateral trade round.

President Bush emphasized the importance he places on that, the importance
that it has for the U.S. economy and the European economy, but also for the
developing world. And Ambassador Schwab and Commissioner Mandelson were in
the room, and there was a good bit of discussion on the progress that's
been made, and on the focused next steps that the EU, the United States,
and all critical parties need to take in the coming weeks and months to
bring Doha to a successful conclusion. And there was a real uniform
expression of commitment and goodwill to try to find a path ahead that
would satisfy all those involved. So that was the second important area of
discussion.

And then third was the energy security, energy efficiency, and climate
change discussion. President Bush introduced this topic. They spent, the
three leaders, a good bit of time talking about this. I think what was most
notable out of that conversation is how much commonality there is around
key principles that the leaders have, the emphasis they place on addressing
these combined issues of energy security, climate change, and continued
economic growth. There was a great deal of emphasis on the importance of
technology in addressing that critical agenda. There was a great deal of
emphasis placed on the importance of bringing the emerging economies into
this discussion in the role that the EU and the United States could play in
that. And there was also a discussion around the very different, in some
ways, and in some ways similar activities that the various countries have
taken.

So President Bush spent a good bit of time emphasizing what he has recently
done in the transportation sector in terms of mandatory restrictions on --
or mandatory increases in CAFE standards and the mix of biofuels in our
fuel supply. And there was a good bit of discussion around some of the
recent steps taken by the European Union, as well as the joint efforts, and
the U.S. effort in particular, around technology investment.

Much of this common ground was captured in a summit declaration around
energy security, efficiency and climate change. And in that statement,
there's a number of common priorities laid out, several that I'll
highlight, is the emphasis that the leaders placed on the deployment of
clean coal technology and carbon capture and storage technologies. This is
an area where we and the European Union agree there needs to be a great
deal of emphasis, in not only developing the technology but deploying it
around the world.

A second area that is highlighted in the summit declaration is energy
efficiency, especially in the transportation sector and in the building
sector. A third area that there's a good bit of combined focus and clarity
is around the research, development and deployment around biofuels, and
developing a common set of standards. The President, as you all know, has a
particular interest in that, and he spent a good bit of time during this
morning's session talking about biofuels and the U.S. efforts to develop
the next generation of technology in that area.

And then, finally, a fourth area of common focus is the methane recovery
and use projects, where we and the European Union have a very cooperative
effort underway, and we're looking for ways to further enhance that effort.

So those are the three topics. Those took up probably the majority of the
sessions this morning, although there were certainly a number of other
important political issues raised. So why don't I turn to my colleague and
let her talk about those.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I just want to briefly talk about the
political and security issues that were raised today. And I would say that
most of the lunch discussion focused on these issues, although one of them
was touched on in the earlier session. You will see when these documents
are put up on the website later today that there is a statement on
promoting peace, human rights and democracy worldwide, and it is a
statement that really represents the breadth of the relationship we have
with the EU in addressing a number of global challenges.

Let me just highlight a couple of the issues that the leaders talked about.
First was Kosovo and the need to quickly come to resolution on the final
status for Kosovo, based on Special Envoy Ahtisaari's plan. They discussed
Iran and the need to make sure that Iran does not develop a nuclear weapons
capability; discussed Darfur, the importance of ending the violence there;
our joint efforts in Afghanistan; reinvigorating the Middle East peace
process, which the EU has become even more involved in with the
reinvigoration of the Quartet process since Chancellor Merkel took over as
EU President.

They discussed Latin America. The President talked a little bit about his
trip to Latin America and the importance of working together on human
rights and basic freedoms in Cuba. And there was also a discussion of the
President's malaria initiative and the need to really address this problem.

I think I will stop there and, Kate, maybe turn it over to questions, if
that's okay.

MS. STARR: Yes, fine, time for questions.

Q I'd just like to ask, on the economic integration agreement, what's the
relationship between that agreement and what the SEC has been doing for the
last few days? I think last week they announced that they were working with
their European counterparts on some somewhat similar sounding kinds of
initiatives to reach a single standard for accounting for public companies.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yes, that -- they are very much integrated.
So as I mentioned, there are these specific lighthouse projects that have
been identified by the Europeans, the Germans, and us. And one of those is
focused specifically on financial markets. And so the whole effort here
around identifying and agreeing upon common accounting standards is one of
the area's focus.

Q And is that something that the SEC has been involved with?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Very much. Yes. It's something that I think
Chris Cox has been involved in taking a leadership role in.

Q Hi there. First quick question is just, I want to ask, if we can, why
this briefing needs to be on background? Is there any way we can just put
this on the record?

MS. STARR: Yes, standard practice, I think, after meetings of this sort is
to just to background on the meeting. And also you've got the President a
little bit on the record today. So we'll keep it on background, but
appreciate your question; noted.

Q My other question is basically, the leaders today were talking about
progress on climate change, but when I listened to the President discuss
the issue, it's the same thing he's said over and over and over again, and
I didn't really hear anything that was different. What actually constitutes
progress on this?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, I guess a couple of things. If you
even went back a couple of years ago, even two years ago, I think the
discussion around climate change would have been the discussion in
isolation of energy security, as well as economic growth. And what was I
think notable today in the comments that President Barroso made, as well as
Chancellor Merkel, was the emphasis that they both placed in all three, and
the common ground that I think they have with the President in terms of the
need to address all three holistically.

The second area that they spent a lot of time talking about and just really
brainstorming around was how to engage together in a way that would make
bringing the emerging economies into this discussion in a constructive way
possible. And so there's now discussions about how to do that and how to do
that effectively.

Then the third is the area of technology collaboration and cooperation, and
the focus that the Europeans -- the Germans, in particular -- and we are
placing on that. So this is not to suggest that there's uniform agreement
on all aspects of climate policy. But on those foundation points, there is,
and that's what they spent the bulk of their time talking about. And the
President said this is a conversation that will continue at the G8 and in
other forums, and he talks about it with them regularly.

Q It's Olivier, but, close enough. I have one question for each of you, I
think. The first one, you said they discussed Kosovo. I'm wondering whether
the President reached out to the leaders, the leaders (inaudible) with the
President, now that Mr. Holbrooke says that he thinks several EU states
would follow the United States in unilaterally recognizing Kosovo.

And on the economic side of things, Chancellor Merkel says it's an enormous
step forward that there's now agreement that we need a proper agenda for
the Indonesian talks on climate change. What's a proper agenda?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, the agenda is still very much under
discussion. But I think the fact that they all agree on the principles that
I laid out before are important parts of the agenda. So the need for common
action, the need for the right participants, the need for a focus on
technology, a need for different approaches at the national level to
fulfill a broader global objective. This was what came out of the
discussion a bit, was the acknowledgment, I think, that the United States
and Germany and the EU more broadly are all taking different approaches to
a very common and significant global objective.

So there's a lot of common ground there. I think where there's not been
common ground is around the wisdom and effectiveness of a global cap and
trade system for fulfilling those objectives. And so there, frankly, wasn't
a discussion about that today, but that's been an area where there's not
been agreement. But there's certainly more areas of agreement than
disagreement at this point.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Let me just address the question on Kosovo.
The discussion on Kosovo -- and you'll see some of this in the statement
that they put out -- was on trying to get a U.N. Security Council
resolution on Kosovo. They noted the fact that the Security Council has
just taken a trip to Kosovo and Serbia. This was at the request of the
Russians. That trip just got back over the weekend. There will be a report
sometime this week, and hopefully based on that report we'll be able to
move forward in a cooperative way and actually get a Security Council
resolution. That's a far preferable way to move forward on that issue. And
that was what the discussion focused on.

Q But just to be clear, they did not discuss the possibility of recognizing
Kosovo outside that context?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: They really -- their discussion really
focused on getting some type of a Security Council resolution. Obviously,
there are options outside of that, if that's not possible, but the focus is
really on trying to work together through the Security Council at this
point to try to get something done.

Q Okay.

Q Hi there. Can you tell us any more about the high-level forum on climate
change that Mr. Barroso mentioned in the press conference? He also
mentioned a conference on renewable energy. I wondered if you could tell us
more about who would be involved in the forum and then in the conference.
Thanks.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: You know, the high-level forum has been
something that has -- was established last year and has become the
mechanism by which we have, from the United States, interacted with the
European Union on this particular topic. Those dialogues have happened on a
fairly regular basis, and that was actually the group that created the
statement that we announced today. That group was comprised of a
combination of people from the climate side, or the environment ministers,
as well as the energy ministers, as well as the economic team.

And one of the key arguments that we've historically made, and that the
Europeans have to some degree adopted, is that, again, these topics need to
be considered together. And therefore, the people that should be talking
about them and considering them are representing all those different
aspects of policy.

I'm not actually -- I heard his comment and haven't had a chance to follow
up on the second part of your question. I'm not exactly sure of the
conference he was referring to. But we can certainly track that down.

Q In the Open Skies agreement, there was some concern that this was going
to allow greater foreign control of U.S. airlines. Are there any
protections to prevent that from happening?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: In terms of what happened on the Open
Skies, there were no changes in terms of control of the business, U.S.
companies. That would have required a role change, and/or legislation --
neither of those have happened. This is really about access to the markets,
in terms of flights from the U.S. to Europe and from Europe to the U.S.
Issues of ownership will be dealt with in a second stage negotiation that
won't start until 2008.

Q So will the -- when did the, sort of, Open Skies -- I mean, is this just
sort of a first step in getting to a broader agreement, or --

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, the Open Skies refers to access to
the routes, and access to the various slots at airports throughout Europe
and the United States. The ownership issues --

Q I guess my question is when does that open access begin?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: March.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: March of 2008, by the terms of the
agreement.

Q Okay.

Q Hi. I'm wondering if you can explain what's next in terms of the U.N.
international negotiations, in terms of climate change. In the discussions
here, Ms. Merkel talked about a strong step forward toward Bali and the
agenda that she wants to get there. Was there any agreement on what the
United States is going to bring to the Bali meeting in December?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: There was not any detailed discussion of
the specifics of that agenda. I think that that is certainly one of the
topics that Chancellor Merkel has outlined as something that she'd like to
discuss at the G8. And so this is a discussion that's going to take --
continue to take place in the months ahead. The G8 will be an opportunity
where the leaders will talk about these issues again.

And that's an interesting forum because you have Japan, who has just
recently -- Prime Minister Abe was here last week, and there was a
statement on energy security and climate with Prime Minister Abe and the
President, and Japan is a member of the Asia Pacific Partnership, so
there's a host of endeavors there, as well as Russia, Canada, and the
United States, all of whom have common objectives, I think, but different
approaches to achieving those objectives.

So the G8 will provide a forum to begin to try to reconcile those views,
and I suspect one of the topics might be how those common views come
together in a common agenda through the U.N. or other mechanisms for
promoting a climate change, energy security and economic growth agenda.

Q Can I follow up with you? I got on the call a little bit late, so I, one,
missed the ground rules in terms of background, and two, what is the
administration's position in terms of the next phase after Kyoto expires in
2012? The negotiations will be going on for the next two years, and then
there's talk that they'd like to firm those up once Bush leaves office in
2010, I believe it is.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: We haven't stated an explicit
administration position on what the post-2012 process or approach would be,
or should be. The President has articulated a set of principles which I've
mentioned, but I'll repeat them just real briefly, which is that he thinks
that this is a global challenge that should be addressed by both the
developed economies, as well as the emerging economies, and one that they
should take on with great focus. He thinks that it should be discussed
within the context of energy security, climate change and economic growth.
You can't single out one of those; they need to be addressed holistically.

The discussion needs to include the emerging economies, who by any
projection will be the primary driver in the foreseeable future of CO2
emissions, and that something that the Chancellor and President Barroso and
the President highlighted yet again today, that ultimately technology is
going to be the critical ingredient to trying to address this issue
globally. And it's not just the development of that technology, but it's
the deployment of it in a low-cost way around the world, so China and India
and the rest of the emerging economies can actually utilize it.

So those will be the principles that we would place a great deal of
emphasis on, but we haven't spoken specifically about what our policy or
approach or posture would be to what might emerge after 2012.

MS. STARR: Okay, thank you, everyone. And there will be a transcript on
this, so everyone knows, and it should be released fairly soon. Thank you.

END 4:37 P.M. EDT

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