EU-US council to push for freer economy

High-level delegates attending the first meeting of the Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC) in Washington next week (9 November) will be laying the groundwork for a freer world economy, said US Ambassador to the EU C. Boyden Gray.

By presenting a common front to the world, the EU and the US should be able to encourage economies such as China to follow suit on regulatory issues, thereby creating an economy that would be "freer and…less fraught with tension", said Gray.

To kick-start negotiations, both sides have pinpointed issues with potential for fast results. "What we’re doing now in the very short term is to get our feet wet, to get the working relationship going," said Gray. "We’ve identified a dozen or so low-hanging fruit to try to show that this thing can work."

The ‘low-hanging fruit’ includes convergence in areas such as biofuels standardisation, accounting standards, customs procedures and consumer protection strategies. Both sides will also try to work out a common approach to tackling the growing might of sovereign wealth funds.

Working within an initial ten-year timeframe, the economies eventually hope to develop a common approach to lawmaking. "We’ll be talking the same language about the same processes," said Gray. "Hopefully in future if we get this analytical approach harmonised we will greatly minimise the chances of conflicts."

What this means in practice is that the transatlantic economy, which currently represents 60% of global gross domestic product combined, will become a jobs-making machine. "If you had to come up with one world that concerns politicians, that makes them jump, it is jobs," said Gray. "This will mean a lot more jobs on both sides of the Atlantic".

The idea of setting up a transatlantic economic partnership was first mooted at the beginning of this year by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The council was established at the EU-US summit in April.

• EU and US representatives from the Transatlantic Business Dialogue and the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue will also hold talks in Washington on 9 November.

Transatlantic Economic Council

EU delegates

• Günter Verheugen, enterprise and industry commissioner

• Meglena Kuneva, consumer protection commissioner

• Peter Mandelson, trade commissioner

• László Kovács, taxation commissioner

• Charlie McCreevy, internal market commissioner

• Jonathan Evans, UK centre-right MEP

US delegates

• Allan Hubbard, economic adviser to the US president

• Henry Paulson, treasury secretary

• Carlos Gutierrez, commerce secretary

• Susan Schwab, trade secretary

• Shelley Berkley, democrat member of US Congress

High-level delegates attending the first meeting of the Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC) in Washington next week (9 November) will be laying the groundwork for a freer world economy, said US Ambassador to the EU C. Boyden Gray.