NEW TRANSATLANTIC AGENDA SENIOR LEV

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NEW TRANSATLANTIC AGENDA SENIOR LEVEL
 GROUP REPORT TO THE EU/US SUMMIT LONDON,
                                    18 MAY 1998 



During the UK Presidency, we have made substantial progress in reaching
goals set at the last Summit and overcoming
differences which, if left unresolved, could limit our ability to work together.

We have cooperated on key foreign policy issues to enhance the effectiveness
of EU and US diplomacy.

We have worked together to address the current crisis in Kosovo. We have
provided support for the new reformist Government in
the Republika Srpska. We drove forward together implementation of the Dayton
agreement, in particular, refugee return, including
through the recent Refugee Return Conferences of Sarajevo and Banja Luka,
and supported economic reforms in Bosnia, as
required by the International Financial Institutions.

Following up on the Joint Statement on Ukraine agreed in December 1997, a
joint demarche was made to the Ukrainian authorities
after the elections, stressing the critical importance of continuing
political and economic reforms. We have identified further areas
for possible cooperation, including common approaches on trade and
investment issues, energy sector reform, civil society and
nuclear safety. We have drawn up a five-point agenda for a common approach
with the Russian Federation and all interested
parties to the problem of nuclear waste management in North West Russia. We
are arranging a joint training programme for
election monitors in Slovakia to prepare for the 1998 general elections. We
have cooperated closely on Turkey and on Cyprus. We
are working together to address cross-border smuggling in Romania under the
SECI initiative.

Elsewhere we have intensified our consultations on policy towards Iran,
focusing on issues of common concern. We have
developed closer cooperation on issues such as counter-terrorism and weapons
of mass destruction. We have both condemned
India's recent decision to conduct nuclear tests. We have established a new,
high-level EU-US coordination mechanism on the
Middle East Peace Process. We have worked closely on human rights issues in
Geneva. The EU and US are both taking steps to
press Burma to respect human rights and democratic principles.

We enhanced the impact of our assistance efforts through close coordination
of European Commission and USAID programmes.
Among our many cooperative endeavours, we have supported good governance in
Central America, delivered humanitarian aid to
North Korea and emergency assistance to victims of El Nino in Central and
South America, launched efforts to combat violence
against women, and implemented joint projects to help destitute women in
Bangladesh. We co-chaired the May 5 Donor Support
Group meeting for Afghanistan in London.

We have worked together to address global challenges, to promote
international law enforcement and address environmental
concerns.

We are jointly supporting information campaigns in Poland and Ukraine to
discourage trafficking in women. US law enforcement
experts visited the Europol Drugs Unit in January. A return visit by EU
experts will take place in June. We have held expert level
meetings on corruption and money-laundering under the auspices of the
Multidisciplinary Group on Organised Crime. We have
explored opportunities for cooperation on stolen vehicles. We have supported
the Caribbean Drugs Initiative to tackle drugs
trafficking in the Caribbean. We have begun a dialogue on follow-up to the
Kyoto Protocol on climate change. We are preparing
cooperation on environmental protection in Central Asia. Specific projects
are already addressing environmental issues in Brazil
and Ukraine.

We have developed our bilateral trade and economic relationship and our
cooperation on multilateral trade issues. 

We have intensified our discussions on how to take forward our tradegoals as
set out in the New Transatlantic Agenda. We have
worked together in the World Trade Organisation in preparation for the May
Ministerial so as to lay the groundwork for further
multilateral negotiations leading to broad based liberalisation and for the
Summit celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the GATT.
We have managed to defuse a number of potentially serious trade disputes.

We have worked in various fora to advance our common goals on electronic
commerce as agreed at the December 1997 Summit,
including establishing a dialogue to address the free flow and protection of
personal data. We are ready to sign a Positive Comity
Agreement to enhance cooperation between our competition agencies. We have
completed negotiation of a Veterinary
Equivalency Agreement, which will facilitate transatlantic trade in animals
and animal products.

We have negotiated a parallel agreement on auto standards within the UN/ECE
framework. We have cooperated to improve
worldwide protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights. We are
signing the Mutual Recognition Agreement and have
advanced negotiations on two new sectors - veterinary biologics and fasteners.

We have strengthened links between our peoples.

We are presenting awards to 50 individuals and organisations who have
promoted democratic values and civil society in their
countries. We have agreed to provide around $2.5 million each for joint
civic education and civil society initiatives in Ukraine. We
have urged the Transatlantic Business Dialogue to continue its important
work strengthening transatlantic trade relations. We have
encouraged the launch of other similar dialogues. Following its April
meeting, the transatlantic Labour Dialogue (TALD) is being
taken forward with action on several fronts, and we have agreed to organise
a Consumer Dialogue. Our grant-giving foundations
and NGOs have agreed to work together to better allocate scarce resources; a
handbook of relevant EU and US NGOs and
initiatives has been published. We held the first meeting of the Joint
Committee on Higher Education and Vocational Training,
which welcomed the solid achievements made in this field under the NTA.

We have involved our parliamentarians more closely in the EU/US process: an
increased number of parliamentary visits took
place; and an internship programme has been set up in the European
Parliament and in the US Congress. As part of our
implementation of the Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement signed in
December 1997, we are holding in June an
EU/US roundtable conference. We jointly organised a forum in Akron, Ohio, in
February to look at ways to increase employability
and tackle social exclusion. We have given support for the successful
implementation of the Transatlantic Information Exchange
Service (TIES), a mega-site on the Internet which will enable our NGOs to
develop contacts and cooperate together.

New Priorities

For the next six months we will focus on the following:

I. Promoting Peace, Stability, Democracy and Development

Work together in the Former Yugoslavia, particularly Kosovo, Bosnia, and
throughout the Western Balkans. Implement our
programme of cooperation in Ukraine. Continue to work closely together on
Cyprus and Turkey. Pursue with all parties concerned,
in the first place the Russian Federation, our joint agenda for nuclear
waste management in Northwest Russia, and report on
progress by the Spring 1999 EU/US Summit. Increase coordination on other
nuclear safety issues. Put into practice the
consultative mechanism set up to ensure better coordination of our efforts
on the Middle East Peace Process. Continue to
cooperate on Iran, particularly on issues of shared concern. Examine the
possibility for cooperation on technical assistance to
develop the rule of law in China.

Continue to work together and with African partners to promote human rights,
good governance and conflict prevention. Continue
active consultations on UN reform and finances. Use our High Level
Assistance Consultations in October to reinforce our
cooperation on economic, development and humanitarian issues.

Assess ways of further enhancing our demining cooperation in specific areas
such as mine action institutions and capacity building
in afflicted countries, the development of appropriate technology and
information exchange on mine-exporting countries. Work for
the successful completion of the Biological Weapons Convention Protocol by
the end of 1998. Further enhance our cooperation on
non-proliferation and export controls. Consider scope for a joint EU/US code
of conduct on arms exports. Consolidate cooperation
in KEDO, together with Japan and the Republic of Korea, to ensure the
continued viability of the organisation and success in
meeting its objectives, thus promoting stability in Northeast Asia and
strengthening global non-proliferation efforts. Continue
cooperation to advance our goals on human rights and democracy in countries
which are of mutual concern.

II. Responding to Global Challenges

Continue to work closely together on counter-terrorism, exchanging
information (eg on terrorism fundraising), raising awareness of
new threats, and encouraging universal adherence to all 11 international
conventions. Explore extending cooperation on drug issues
in other regions such as Central Asia and Latin America, including the Andes.

Maintain close cooperation between US law enforcement agencies and the EU
Multidisciplinary Group on Organised Crime. In the
light of our evaluation, consider whether to expand to other countries our
initiative to discourage trafficking in women. Review the
possibilities for cooperation on stolen vehicles.

Following signing of the charters inaugurating the Regional Environmental
Centres (RECs) in Moldova, Georgia, Russia and
Ukraine, ensure they become quickly operational and consider supporting the
establishment of a Central Asia. Continue our
dialogue on environmental issues, including on the Biosafety Protocol and
the follow-up to the Kyoto Protocol. Work to resolve
outstanding issues before the November climate change meeting in Buenos
Aires. Plan for a Transatlantic Chemicals Conference.
Focus the work of the Task Force on Communicable Diseases on surveillance of
certain priority diseases, in particular foodborne
diseases, and the problem of antimicrobial resistance, as well as on
training exchanges, field investigations, and the exchange of
information on outbreaks of diseases.

III. Expanding World Trade and Closer Economic Relations

Follow up on our recent discussions on how to take forward our shared trade
goals. Continue to implement our joint statement on
electronic commerce, giving priority to the urgent issues of date privacy
and domain name allocation. Continue to enhance our
dialogue on regulatory issues, including those relating to biotechnology.
Implement the MRA and seek early signature of the new
annexes on veterinary biologics and fasteners. Identify ways of further
deepening our cooperation on Intellectual Property Rights
with respect to both bilateral and multilateral issues. Building on our
ongoing bilateral consultations, explore ways to cooperate in a
mutually acceptable framework to develop a global navigation satellite
system. Support the various projects of the Transatlantic
Small Business Initiative, in particular the EU/US Partnering Meeting in
Chicago which will bring together 400 small and
medium-sized enterprises. Continue our exchange on macro-economic issues as
the EU approaches the third phase of the
Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

Within multilateral fora, reaffirm the importance we attach to our efforts
in the OECD to achieve a comprehensive multilateral
framework for investment with high standards of liberalisation and
investment protection that has effective dispute settlement
procedures and is open to non-member countries. Pursue the current work
programme on investment in the WTO. Once that
programme has been completed, seek the support of all our partners for next
steps towards the creation of investment rules in the
WTO. Continue work on accession of new members. Pursue our common efforts in
the WTO to conclude the negotiations,
already well advanced, on expansion in the coverage of the Information
Technology Agreement (ITA II). Work to implement the
outcome of the May WTO Ministerial.

IV. Building Bridges

Under our Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement, encourage the launch
of collaborative projects. Cooperate to ensure a
successful, broad-based Vienna Conference on People-to-People Links in
October. Implement our projects in Ukraine on civic
education, municipal and public administration, transparency, and
parliamentary exchange. Seek progress on the establishment of
the Transatlantic NGO Dialogue on development, economic, and humanitarian
assistance. Support the July visit by Supreme Court
Justices to the European institutions.

Contribute to a successful TABD Conference in November and take its
recommendations into account in our future work.
Actively support the Consumer Dialogue following its launch this summer.
Support the work of the Transatlantic Labour Dialogue.
Hold a seminar on work organisation in Brussels in June, a conference on
disability in the workplace in Madrid in October. Fully
support the partnerships established at the Akron forum. Support the
follow-up to the successful February symposium on Codes of
Conduct and International Labour Standards.