5 December EU-US summit

Date: 11/12/1997

THE ninth transatlantic summit passed with scarcely a ripple, replete with the usual batch of declarations but with little concrete progress on any of the major trade issues facing the relationship. Europe and the US signed a 'path-finding' declaration calling for fewer barriers to transatlantic electronic commerce, but it was vague about what that meant in practice. While the private sector was in the driving seat, it said, governments could safeguard public interest by means of legislation on confidentiality, intellectual property rights and consumer protection. Governments should also lower legal barriers to trade by adopting clear and coherent taxation policies, it added.

A TRANSATLANTIC Information Exchange project (TIES) was launched to “build and strengthen people-to-people contacts between Americans and Europeans”. TIES will link thousands of websites, allowing EU and US citizens to build professional and educational networks.

THE two sides signed a first-ever science and technology agreement, encouraging joint research projects over the next five years. The accord included a set of rules dealing with intellectual property rights on any discoveries emerging from joint projects.

US LAWS banning foreign investment in Cuba were broached yet again, with Trade Commissioner Sir Leon Brittan stressing the need for a solution. Nonetheless, he recognised that, in practice, “neither Title III nor Title IV of Helms-Burton or D'Amato have been applied”.

BOTH sides agreed that they should talk with one voice on the Middle East peace process. “We must follow the Oslo and Washington peace process. 'Land for peace' means that no peace is possible,” stressed Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jacques Poos.