EU Affairs
Paul O'Hagan
Policy Officer
American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union (AmCham EU)
Twenty Months Later: The Transatlantic Economic Council
The Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC) was established in April 2007 as part of an initiative by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to launch a mechanism for the European Union and United States to reduce regulatory barriers which hinder economic growth between the world’s two largest trading partners. Chancellor Merkel, along with European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and United States President George W. Bush, established the TEC under the ‘Framework for Advancing Economic Integration between the United States of America and the European Union’.
In an effort to reduce regulatory barriers and enhance economic cooperation between the European Union and United States, the Framework established a limited number of lighthouse projects including: Intellectual Property Rights, Secure Trade, Financial Markets, Innovation & Technology and Investment. Through these priority lighthouse projects, agencies on both sides of the Atlantic have been able to work together not only to reduce regulatory barriers, but to co-operate and seek alignment on the regulation of new and emerging technologies.
The TEC is co-chaired on the European side by European Commission Vice President Günter Verheugen (European Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry) and on the American side by Daniel Price, Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs. (The first American co-chair was the then National Economic Council Director, Allan Hubbard, but has subsequently been replaced by Daniel Price)
In terms of consultations with stakeholders, the TEC framework has designated three official stakeholder consultation organisations: the Transatlantic Business Dialogue (TABD), the Transatlantic Consumers Dialogue (TACD) and the Transatlantic Legislators Dialogue (TALD). These organisations, representing the interests of business, consumers and legislators, have a privileged role in the mechanism.
Since the establishment of the TEC, AmCham EU and various other transatlantic business organisations have been extremely active in contributing to the consultation process - through the TABD - and remain strong proponents of the initiative. It has been shown that the TEC is a process and it will and has taken time for concrete accomplishments to surface. Recently, Vice President Verheugen noted that the TEC was a ‘high level clearing house not a negotiating body.’ This has proven to be very true in light of the debate on the import of American poultry into the European market. Despite being relatively small in terms of economic value to both sides, this highly contentious issue has at times dominated the discussion during meetings of the Council. Other issues, notably the acceptance by the European Union of the recognition of United States GAAP accountancy rules, have however shown that the process is indeed working and concrete outcomes are being attained.
As set forth in the framework for the Chairs to meet at least once a year, the Council has indeed met three times since the establishment of the Framework, most recently on December 12th 2008. Along with Vice-President Verheugen, European Commissioners in attendance included: Commissioners McCreevy, Ashton, Kovacs, and Kuneva. On the American side, led by Daniel Price, leading figures from the Department of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, Department of Labor and many other departments were in attendance.
This latest meeting has proven to be extremely symbolic and important. There have been fears on both sides of the Atlantic in recent months that the continuity of the TEC and commitment by the governments may be in jeopardy as we approach 2009 with a new United States Administration and new European Union Commission and Parliament. This December meeting, despite taking place in the midst of global financial turmoil, sent a strong message that both sides are committed to the process and will do their best to ensure that the initiative is taken on by new administrations. Indeed, Daniel Price made remarks to TEC advisors, stakeholders and the press that he has and will emphasise the importance of the TEC and has strongly recommended to the new President-elect Obama
Administration that the TEC should be continued.
Despite being a great supporter of the TEC and recognising that concrete outcomes are not immediate, another concern of stakeholders (including AmCham EU) has been a lack of transparency in the process. The Chairs at the December meeting expressed that they have internalised the frustration of non-government actors interested in the TEC in regards to the lack of transparency. Therefore, both the Europeans and Americans have pledged to publish on the internet the TEC work-plan with dates for the completion of particular projects and the names and individuals in the European Commission and the US Administration who are working on each dossier. This initiative has been extremely welcomed by all stakeholders.
Another major outcome of the latest meeting was the willingness to work on expanding and solidifying the Congressional and Parliamentary involvement in the TEC – a major obstacle so far seen in the process. There was a commitment to solidify further Senate involvement and to approach Congress based on the individuals who follow issues on the TEC agenda.
The meeting also stressed the importance of advancing common interests and addressing common challenges involving third countries. This can be seen through the outcomes regarding consumer product safety. European Commissioner Kuneva, Commissioner for Consumer Protection, was very complementary on European Union – United States cooperation on the issue of Chinese toy and pharmaceutical safety. It was announced that the EU and US, along with Australia, will hold joint assessments and coordinate inspection schedules of Chinese manufacturing plants.
Finally, another key outcome of the December meeting was to add Energy Technologies and Climate Change as part of the annex and framework of the TEC. This would cover Biofuels, Energy Efficiency, Air Traffic Management and Energy Usage Metrics. Other issues discussed at the recent meeting included the implementation of REACH, the 100% scanning initiative, insurance and re-insurance and ICT related issues.
With such strong messages of commitment being transmitted from both the Europeans and Americans, along with concrete outcomes of process being gradually realised, the business community on both sides of the Atlantic look forward to the Transatlantic Economic Council continuing its progress into 2009. AmCham EU looks forward to being an integral player in the TEC mechanism and looks forward to working with the new figures in both Washington and Brussels following the upcoming changes in administrations. With the current financial situation, the TEC is an extremely important instrument to tackle regulatory issues and a great asset to further enhance the most important economic relationship in the world.
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