EU Commission President Barroso meets US President Bush at White House

Commission President José Manuel Barroso will meet US President George W. Bush on 18 October at the White House, the first such bilateral meeting in the White House for many years. They will discuss the WTO Doha Round, the deepening of transatlantic economic integration and the promotion of democracy in the world. President Barroso will be accompanied by Commissioner for External Relations and Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner. Vice-President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will also attend the meeting. President Barroso will also deliver a keynote speech and inaugurate the EU Centre of Excellence at the School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University.

On the eve of his departure, European Commission President Barroso said: "Our dialogue with the US is producing good results. We are working together effectively in many regions of the world. My goal in Washington, D.C. will be to further promote our political and economic transatlantic ties."

He added: "President Bush and I share the idea that our strategic partnership should serve to promote democracy, human rights, rule of law, and market economy around the world. Nothing is more important on our short-term horizon than ensuring the success of the WTO Hong Kong Ministerial meeting to set the framework for concluding the WTO Doha Round."

There are two main topics for discussion in the Oval Office:

WTO Doha Round

This is the most important challenge the EU and the US face on the international economic agenda, and one in which both share a major responsibility for its success. Agriculture is one of the key areas, in which the EU has shown its commitment to significant farm reform. The Commission welcomes the signs of movement from the US on its own farm support programmes in the last few days, and calls on the US to go further. That will unlock the Round as a whole. Another crucial area is market access for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). We have to make good the commitment to remove any remaining barriers to their exports. The Commission calls on the US to join Europe in doing this.

EU- US foreign policy cooperation

Discussions are expected to focus particularly on the promotion of reform in the Middle East and developments following Israel's withdrawal from Gaza. The EU and the US have many shared interests and goals in this region. As fellow members of the "Quartet" (EU, US, UN and Russia), they have a common objective of helping to bring all parties back to implementation of the "Roadmap". The European Commission has been active in supporting reform in the region for over ten years with a budget of €3billion ($3.6million) a year. The work that the Commission is already engaged in with partner countries through the Barcelona Process and the European Neighbourhood Policy makes an important contribution to achieving the objectives of the G8 Broader Middle East and Northern Africa (BMENA) initiative and its Forum for the Future.

The EU and the US have shared objectives in a range of other areas around the globe, and have complementary approaches to challenges ranging from stabilisation and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, to promotion of democracy in Lebanon and Ukraine, and non proliferation, including Iran.

Climate change and pandemics are major global challenges the EU and the US both need to confront. The European Commission welcomes the US initiative of the "Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development", which shows growing awareness of seriousness of climate change. The Commission seeks to promote a constructive international dialogue on how to address climate change in the period after the Kyoto Protocol in view of the UN Climate Change Conference in Montreal next month. With regard to pandemics the EU shares the aims of the recent US initiative on Avian and Pandemic Influenza and is keen to cooperate closely in order to ensure that effective and appropriate global preparedness and prevention measures are in place.

The EU and the US must attain the goals of the Declaration on Millennium Development Goals. The EU recognises that debt relief decided by the G8 is an important step. The EU and the US need to join efforts to strengthen the African Union (AU) and other regional organisations as well as enhancing support for the implementation of the peace agreement in Sudan and for stability in the Great Lakes region.

BACKGROUND

The EU and the US maintain by far the largest bilateral trade and investment relationship in the world¹. But further work needs to be done. That is why leaders agreed the EU-US Initiative to Enhance Transatlantic Economic Integration and Growth at their last summit in Washington, D.C. in June. The opening up of the air-services market and visa-free access to the US for all new EU Member States citizens are two areas, for instance, where early benefits could be realised with direct benefits for millions of European and American citizens.

For further information go to:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/us/intro/index.htm

¹ € 590 billion in goods and services (2004) and € 1.4 trillion in total stocks of two-way investment (2003)

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• EU President Barroso to meet US President Bush at the White House on 8 January (5/1/2007)
• EU - US Summit, Vienna, 21 June 2006 (19/6/2006)
• Speech by EU Commission President Barroso: The EU and US: a Declaration of Interdependence (18/10/2005)
• Speech by EU Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner - Building a Transatlantic Alliance for the 21st Century (12/9/2005)
• Remarks at EU-USA Ministerial Troika meeting 2 June 2005 (2/6/2005)
• President Barroso welcomes US President Bush at EC headquarters (18/2/2005)
• US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to visit Commission on 9 February (8/2/2005)