For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 25, 2003
Business Dialogue Fact Sheet
U.S.-EU Summit
Transatlantic Business Dialogue
United States and European Union Business Leaders Met with U.S.
Commerce Secretary Donald Evans and EU Commissioner Erkki Liikanen on
the eve of the 2003 U.S.-EU summit in Washington, D.C., to discuss
issues of critical importance to transatlantic commerce, including the
Doha trade talks, security issues, regulatory cooperation, and capital
market convergence.
The discussion also included several changes to the Transatlantic
Business Dialogue (TABD) process, a successful forum in the past, which
is being redesigned to create a more conducive environment to advance
transatlantic economic relations.
The redesign of the TABD includes:
Focusing TABD recommendations to governments in two or three areas
of critical interest. To bolster international business
confidence, TABD business leaders will focus on two or three issues of
most benefit to the transatlantic marketplace, pursue a work plan for
each, and outline goals for the coming year.
High-level government attention from the U.S. and EU. The U.S.
Secretary of Commerce and the EU Commissioners for Enterprise and Trade
have pledged to review the proposed work plans and commit to implement
appropriate recommendations. A senior deputy from each side will
coordinate the process throughout the year, ensuring participation of
appropriate agencies, policy officials, and regulators in the process.
Replacement of annual 2-day TABD conference with an annual meeting
on the margins of the U.S.-EU Summit. European and American CEOs
and government decision-makers will use this meeting to review progress
and identify future work.
Expert-level working groups to discuss sector-specific issues.
Throughout the year, expert groups will meet, bringing in high-level
government and business leaders when necessary. Expert group results
will be fed into CEO level discussions as appropriate, and may be
addressed in relevant government dialogues, such as the talks on
EU-U.S. Guidelines on Regulatory Cooperation and Transparency.
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