Believing that transatlantic economic integration will maximize economic benefits for their citizens through competition and stronger growth, while maintaining high standards of safety and protection, at their last summit meeting in April 2007, the leaders of the European Union (EU) and the United States of America (United States) committed their governments to increasing the efficiency and transparency of transatlantic economic cooperation and to accelerating the reduction and elimination of barriers to international trade and investment with the ultimate objective of achieving a barrier free transatlantic market.

The leaders of the European Union and the United States of America agreed on a Framework for Advancing Transatlantic Economic Integration (the Framework) and established the Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC) to oversee the efforts outlined in the Framework, with the goal of accelerating progress and guiding work between EU-U.S. Summits.

The TEC was requested to report annually to the EU-U.S. Summit leaders on the TEC’s achievements (part 1) and on areas where more progress is needed (part 2).

1. TEC Achievements

The outcomes of two TEC meetings so far show the firm commitment of both sides to reach their common objective of greater economic integration. The meetings have shown clear signs of steady progress towards a more convergent transatlantic regulatory environment in a number of priority areas.

The regular and close contacts between the European Commission and the U.S. government in the context of the TEC have allowed both sides to deepen their political dialogue and offered a platform to informally discuss strategic issues of common interest.

Representing the most important bilateral economic relationship in the world, built on shared values, including a belief in open economies, unfettered competition, the rule of law and well-regulated markets with a high level of safety and protection, the TEC is mindful that the European Union and the United States lead by example as to how to overcome economic barriers both in their bilateral relationship and in the world economy.

Since the 2007 Summit meeting, the TEC has

adopted working arrangements on its composition, working methods, and relations with stakeholders, legislators and regulators;
convened a Group of Advisers comprised of the heads of existing transatlantic dialogues to provide input and guidance to the TEC on priorities for transatlantic economic integration; the Co-chairs of the TEC have consulted this Group of Advisers before each meeting of the TEC and informed them of the TEC’s accomplishments afterwards;
appointed senior officials and heads of regulatory agencies as members of the EU-U.S. High-Level Regulatory Cooperation Forum; the Forum has met twice over the past year, serving as a platform for exchanging best regulatory practices within and between sectors and for seeking early upstream consultation and more compatible regulatory approaches to upcoming regulatory matters and decisions;
assembled in Washington on 9 November 2007 and on 13 May 2008 in Brussels, reflecting the high-level political commitment to transatlantic economic cooperation on both sides of the Atlantic and demonstrating the intention of the European Commission and U.S. government to move rapidly towards achieving their common objectives in the areas mentioned in the following sections.
1.1. Fostering Cooperation and Reducing Regulatory Burdens

The TEC is committed to:

removing barriers to transatlantic commerce;
rationalizing, reforming, and, where appropriate, reducing regulations to empower the private sector;
achieving more effective, systematic and transparent regulatory cooperation to reduce costs associated with regulation to consumers and producers and to enhance consumer confidence and safety;
removing unnecessary differences between our regulations to foster economic integration;
reinforcing the existing transatlantic dialogue structures in regulatory cooperation both by intensifying sector-by-sector EU-U.S. regulatory cooperation and the dialogue between the European Commission services and the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on methodological issues.
Over the past year, the European Commission and the U.S. government have taken the following steps to reduce barriers to transatlantic economic integration: