Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on "Re-invigorating the transatlantic partnership and dialogue"

(2001/C 221/20)

On 30 November 2000, the Economic and Social Committee decided to draw up an opinion in accordance with Rule 23(3) of its Rules of Procedure on "Re-invigorating the transatlantic partnership and dialogue".

The Section for External Relations, responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 17 May 2001. The rapporteur was Mr Ehnmark.

At its 382nd plenary session on 30 and 31 May 2001 (meeting of 30 May 2001), the Committee adopted the following opinion by 119 votes for and two abstentions.

Summary of the opinion

a) The Economic and Social Committee strongly supports the transatlantic cooperation and recommends that it be reinvigorated and broadened.

b) The Committee fears that the number of differences of opinion on bilateral and global issues between the US and EU may be growing.

c) The Committee emphasises that a widened partnership and cooperation must be based on mutual understanding and respect for each other's visions, values, interests and social models.

d) The Committee recommends that organised civil society is actively and vigorously involved in the partnership. Organized civil society can give important inputs to both preparation and follow-up of events in the transatlantic cooperation. A widened people-to-people profile is particularly important when disputes are becoming more frequent.

e) The Committee supports the change to a more thematic way of organising the cooperation, taking into account that crisis issues must be tackled in particular forms.

f) The Committee proposes four priority themes: Globalisation and the multilateral trading system, Environment and climate change, Food safety and consumer protection issues, Social cohesion and sustainable social systems in a demographic perspective.

g) The Committee strongly supports the continuation and strengthening of the existing dialogues. The setting up of Task Forces as a tool for preparing theme discussions at US-EU summits should also be considered, and the ESC declares its readiness to assist in setting up such bodies.

h) The Committee intends to be actively involved in the transatlantic cooperation. As European Institution representing organized civil society, the Committee can provide added value to the cooperation.

i) As part of the Committee's widened involvement, the Committee proposes the creation of an annual or 2-yearly Transatlantic Forum for penetrating topical issues of mutual relevance and interest. The Committee declares its willingness to organise the first Transatlantic Forum in the Spring of 2002.

j) The Committee calls upon the forthcoming EU-US summit in Gothenburg to take the lead in forming a global strategy for sustainable development.

k) The forthcoming WTO negotiations in Quatar will illustrate the ability of the EU and the USA to agree on a joint platform and reconcile their differences. The Committee calls on the forthcoming EU-US summit in Gothenburg to take decisive steps in this direction.

1. Introduction

1.1. The transatlantic cooperation between the US and the EU expanded and found new forms during the 1990's, in the wake of the end of the cold war. The new forms and the feeling of mutual benefits made it possible to involve also groups of organised civil society in dialogues and cooperation initiatives. The New Transatlantic Agenda (NTA), adopted in 1995, was a significant step, as it expanded the EU-US cooperation to the full range of political and economic issues.

1.2. The NTA was important also in view of the previous discussions on the possibility of creating a free trade area encompassing both the EU and the US. Those discussions failed, and are not an issue today, but they indicated a move towards finding new dimensions and forms for the cooperation.

1.3. The NTA marked the beginning of a new equilibrium between the EU and the US. In the Spring of 2001, the growing role of the EU in international affairs and as an international actor has become both obvious and significant. At the same time, significant events in the American hemisphere - particularly the agreement in Quebec to create a free trade area for all American states, except Cuba, have contributed to changing the scene and the conditions for the further development of the NTA and in a wider sense for the whole transatlantic cooperation.

1.4. The NTA added substantially to the problem-solving capacity of the mechanisms for cooperation - without hiding the fact that continuously a number of potential conflicts and/or differences of opinion are emerging, particularly concerning trade. The tackling of these problems before they became really difficult has, however, on the whole worked well, with a few exceptions.

1.5. It is anticipated that this capacity will remain adequate also in years to come. As in all relationships with timespans of many decades, the level of mutual understanding and accord may differ over the years.

1.6. It is possible that we are now witnessing the beginning of a period with an increasing number of differences of opinion between the US and EU on key bilateral and global issues. If so, it will become all the more important that the dialogue between the civil societies on both sides of the Atlantic is working well, and that the problem-solving mechanisms are adequate.

1.7. The European Commission has stated, in a communication on the future of the Transatlantic cooperation(1), that although difficulties arise, the fact remains "that relations between Europe and the US is the most important strategic relationship in the world".

1.8. The Economic and Social Committee wishes to express its firm support for this statement. At the same time, the Committee reiterates its opinion that a growing number of differences of opinion may create new strains on the relationship.

1.9. The Committee has not found it relevant to examine all the various issues where differences of opinion are becoming obvious. However, on one issue the ESC is voicing its reaction.

1.10. The Economic and Social Committee deplores the fact that the Kyoto protocol on global climate issues is in a state of implementation crisis, after the announcement that the US is withdrawing from the protocol.

1.11. In this opinion on the future of transatlantic cooperation, the Committee focuses its considerations on the issue of how cooperation and dialogues can be strengthened in the years to come. Where there are differences of opinion on political level, it is all the more important that cooperation and dialogues are reinvigorated, preventing misunderstanding between the two sides, and including organised civil society more than ever.

1.12. With this own-initiative opinion, the Committee is examining the experiences of the past period of transatlantic cooperation, and proposing a number of steps to reinvigorate some mechanisms and dialogues. With the advent of the new US administration, it is timely to consider both experiences of past and priorities for future cooperation.

1.13. At the same time, the Committee finds it relevant to consider the role for the Committee itself in the transatlantic cooperation and dialogues, based on the assumption, as stated previously, that organised civil society on both sides should intensify their contacts.

1.14. The Committee believes that it can give concrete contributions to the cooperation and contacts, by way of strengthening its own dialogue with all parts of the American society. Some specific proposals are put forward to this end.

1.15. With this opinion, the Committee is also giving a contribution to the EU-US summit that is to take place in connection with the EU summit in Gothenburg in June this year.

1.16. The real challenge for the EU-US partnership is to focus on the long-term common values and interests, not the short-term problems, and to seek relevant issues and forms for cooperation accordingly.

2. The growth of transatlantic cooperation during the 1990s

2.1. In the early 1990's the deliberations on transatlantic cooperation were coloured by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the cold war. New opportunities for cooperation on bilateral and global issues were seen, and new initiatives taken in order to structure the cooperation.

2.2. The discussion on a possible transatlantic free trade area reflected the feeling in the early 1990's that the opportunities were endless. However, in the end they were not so endless, and the idea of a transatlantic free trade area was abandoned.

2.3. In the middle of the 1990's, a new structure for the transatlantic cooperation was established, the Transatlantic partnership and agenda.

2.4. In 1995, the New Transatlantic Agenda (NTA) was agreed upon, marking a more decisive step forward in identifying the cooperation and the dialogues. The NTA set up four major goals:

- promoting peace and stability, democracy and development around the world;

- responding to global challenges: this included actions against terrorism and actions with regard to environment;

- contributing to the expansion of world trade and closer economic ties;

- building bridges across the Atlantic.

2.5. Under this last headline, a number of people-to-people initiatives were launched. The four specific dialogues, on business, labour, consumer and environment cooperation, date from 1995.

2.6. The structure of the NTA includes two annual meetings at summit level, an elaborate civil servant structure, and a number of informal contacts with the aim of identifying problems and options in the partnership. Organised civil society has only marginally been involved in the NTA.

2.7. In addition, in 1998 the Transatlantic Economic Partnership (TEP) was launched with the aim of giving a new impetus to EU-US cooperation in the field of trade and investment, within the framework of the NTA.

3. Experiences of the transatlantic cooperation during the 1990s

3.1. The European Commission has summarised part of the experiences of past cooperation in the following sentence: "Although difficulties occasionally arise between the EU and the US on policy matters owing to the differences between them in institutional structures and administrative practices, the fact remains that relations between Europe and the United States is the most important strategic relationship in the world".

3.2. The Commission has added a pertinent analysis to this general statement, identifying six major reasons for the shortcomings that have occurred:

- the limits placed on the US executive branch by the essentially domestically driven legislative process of the US Congress;

- the institutional limitations placed on the EU by the Treaties and the structural constraints of the EU's decision-making process;

- different levels of willingness to make economic sacrifices in order to advance global environmental standards;

- a different level of consumer tolerance on issues such as the use of genetically modified organisms;

- the constitutional inability of US Federal Administration to commit regulatory agencies and federal states in its dealings with the EU;

- the difficulties both sides face in ensuring the prompt and full implementation of WTO rulings.

High-level political leadership and commitment on both sides should help to overcome these difficulties, the Commission adds.

3.3. The ESC welcomes the clear language of the Commission analysis, and can agree with the contents. A discussion on future cooperation must build on a certain degree of openness and frankness in assessing problems and difficulties past and present. The Commission's communication is providing a stimulating reading for all involved in the transatlantic cooperation.

3.4. The observations made by the ESC on the future of transatlantic relations support the conclusions of the Commission. The combination of constitutional, institutional and public opinion-related factors have sometimes created strong hindrances to new initiatives. On the other hand, it should be emphasised that the New Transatlantic Agenda has added substantially to the widening of contacts and dialogues, and helped in bringing in new issues.

3.5. At the same time, and regardless of the NTA mechanisms, trade disputes and other problematic issues have appeared. The fact that a substantial number of such issues have required prolonged efforts for solving indicates that the mechanisms have not been adequate. It has been noted that the trade dispute relate only 1-1,5 percent of total volume of bilateral trade. On the US side, it has also been noted that some pending issues, such as for example the issue of genetically modified crops, could quickly develop into a very substantial dispute.

3.6. The ESC, however, could also take note of the fact that representatives of those organizations that are active in dialogues and seminars on EU-US level over the last years have been arguing that it is time to take new initiatives in order to reinvigorate the partnership.

3.7. Representatives of business, consumer movement, and environment have in various degrees pointed to this same need. Representatives of the US trade union movement have forwarded the view that their bilateral contacts are well established within the existing trade union European and global confederations.

3.8. In particular, the ESC, in his contacts with EU and US organised civil society took note of the following comments and observations:

The commitment to transatlantic cooperation on the US side was perceived as weaker than before. This will no doubt result in changes in the atmosphere in the NTA. At the same time, US priority of relations with other parts of the Americas was underlined in various discussions.

Wide consensus was achieved as to the need to reinvigorate the NTA and the dialogues, and to create new mechanisms for cooperation. The issues, however, can not be selected on their likelihood of gaining consensus; it would rather be advisable to select issues where positions and solutions differ, but where a dialogue can be inspiring for both sides.

Active and vigorous participation of civil society organisations was widely supported. However, on the US side, it was noted that contacts domestically between NGOs and organised civil society was far less frequent than on the European side.

The established dialogues within the NTA can not exist without strong government involvement; this refers specifically to the Business dialogue, but the point was echoed also by others. The issue of financial support to the dialogues was brought up, with special reference to the environment dialogue.

The extraordinary growth in productivity in US industry over the last decade was frequently brought up, in the context of heavy investments in ICT and in human resource development. This cluster of issues was mentioned as one possible area for further bilateral analysis and comparison.

Labour relations in the US were affected by growing problems in vis-à-vis business and the new administration; on this issue, it was obvious that the EU could provide inspiring information and aspects.

4. Key themes and issues for the transatlantic partnership

4.1. It seems pertinent to focus on the key issues for the transatlantic partnership over the next four years or more before discussing objectives of extended dialogues and contacts.

4.2. The four dialogues that were established in 1995 - on business, labour, consumers and environment - have not all been successful. It is obvious that the Business dialogue has functioned very well, providing conclusions that have assisted in solving bilateral trade and industry problems. The same can be said about the Consumers dialogue, which has inspired legislation on both sides of the Atlantic. The Labour dialogue has to a large extent been taken place within established bilateral trade union contacts. The Environmental dialogue has only partially achieved its objectives; although it started well, it has later been forced to suspend work due to lack of resources on the US side. For some dialogues, the balance between issues and meeting mechanisms has been difficult. As one of the business representatives has expressed the situation, the mechanism for initiating and organizing meetings have sometimes become more important than the existence of relevant issues to discuss.

4.3. In this perspective, it is of particular importance that the issues - apart from topical crisis issues - selected for future NTA work meet criteria of both long term and mutual relevance. The European Commission has, out of its own analysis, identified eight themes of more strategic dimensions, and suggested that the NTA process should be focused on one or two such themes at any given period.

4.4. The eight themes identified by the Commission are:

a) Emerging security challenges

b) Globalisation and the multilateral system

c) Fight against crime and in particular organised crime

d) Energy - preparing for the future

e) Consumer protection issues, in particular food safety

f) Macroeconomic issues

g) Fight against poverty in developing countries

h) Digital economy and its effects on production, working life etc.

To this list, the General Affairs council has added a ninth issue, environment and climate change.

4.5. The Commission proposes that the themes be divided into priority issues, so as to enable the NTA structure to concentrate on a limited number of issues each year, and not move on to new themes and issues before some kind of results have been achieved.

4.6. The ESC can agree that the NTA process could become more focused and thereby increase the potential for reaching some kind of results. The point is, however, that any definition of result must ultimately rely on the mutual willingness and ambition to work for the aim of reaching results - be it in the form of agreements, the starting of new projects or programmes, or initiatives at national level.

4.7. The ESC can also agree that the suggested eight themes are pertinent and relevant. They cover very broad areas and reflect issues of high priority to both sides or to one or the other. The Committee does not have objections to anyone of them being included in a theme list.

4.8. However, from a civil society point of view, the ESC would give particular importance to the following themes, on the basis that these themes in a very specific way reflect considerations and interests of broad groups of citizens on both sides of the Atlantic:

- Globalisation and the multilateral trading system: this theme should include building EU-US support for a remodelling of the multilateral trading system, to promote sustainable world economic growth and development, including respect for ILO core labour standards, joint efforts to promote, implement and enforce the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises(2), and preparations for the next WTO round.

- Environment and climate change: this theme should include both preparations for the Rio + 10 Conference and the establishment of renewed strategies for counteracting climate change.

- Food safety and consumer protection issues: this theme should in particular respond to recent widespread fear among consumers that safe food is a commodity in scarcity.

- Social cohesion and sustainable social systems in a perspective of demographic trends: this theme would respond to the interests of wide groups in organised civil society and takes up issues that are becoming more and more urgent.

The Committee has considered also other themes from the point of view of organised civil society; most of them can be included in the Commission list or in the four above-mentioned themes. Among these themes can be mentioned migration and digital security. When selecting themes for future transatlantic cooperation, the Committee would, however, like to give special attention to the issue of sustainable development, which is specifically commented upon in chapter 8, and the issue of working life developments in the new and ICT-profiled economy.

4.9. To sum up, the ESC strongly advocates the inclusion of themes that are of broad relevance for organised civil society.

4.10. The Commission is suggesting a rolling programme for the EU-US summits, based on the selected themes and issues, and ensuring a top-down approach focussing on accomplishments and results.

4.11. The ESC is not convinced that a top-down approach in all cases is most favourable if there are to be results with wider implications than for the next summit.

4.12. The ESC would strongly recommend that the evolution of the transatlantic partnership is based on the parallel adoption of bottom-up and top-down procedures. The bottom-up procedure will result in growing involvement by civil society. This aspect should not be underestimated. At the same time, the top-down approach is of course necessary in executive phases of summit considerations.

4.13. The Commission suggests that the outcome of summits could have different forms; the leaders could instruct officials to identify possible solutions to a problem, proposals for cooperation or revert with an EU-US position in advance of international negotiations, all within a specific deadline.

4.14. To this, the ESC would suggest that yet another possible outcome of a EU-US summit could be a decision to involve broad groups in civil society for preparing or sounding out positions, and for monitoring and follow-up of new initiatives.

4.15. There is always a danger that summitry work is too far removed from the lives and horizons of ordinary citizens.

4.16. The ESC would like to add some further comments, particularly with regard to the four dialogues that were initiated in 1995.

4.17. The Business and Industry dialogue has been the most successful of the dialogues initiated. The ESC supports the view that the Business dialogue should continue as has been voiced by a number of participants in this dialogue.

4.18. In the Trade Union sector, considerably more contacts and discussions take place outside the Dialogue than within. The trade union confederations would, however, probably find it interesting to take part in new initiatives.

4.19. The Consumers' Dialogue has been very active and overall successful. Its continued work is more or less indispensable. The Consumers' Dialogue should of course be closely connected to new themes such as the one on consumer protection and on multilateral trading system.

4.20. The Environment Dialogue, which has suspended its work due to financial resources on the US side, should be reinitiated. This dialogue is extremely important, particularly in the light of differences of priorities between the EU and US in the environmental field. This dialogue has a very urgent role to play in contributing to joint positions between the US and the EU. Finding key issues to tackle can not be any problem. It would seem that different viewpoints among participants from each side of the Atlantic has been more of a problem. Anyhow, the ESC would recommend that the Environment Dialogue initially be integrated into a new effort on sustainable development, in the new form of a Task Force.

5. Reinvigorating the structures and forms of the transatlantic partnership

5.1. The ESC is reiterating its position that the transatlantic partnership should not predominantly be organised top-down. A bottom-up dimension must be added.

5.2. In accordance with this position, the ESC would like to give some considerations concerning the structures and forms of the transatlantic partnership in the next four years.

5.3. Themes that have been selected for the summit (with or without consultation with organised civil society) could be prepared in parallel by the official channels and by involving organised civil society. In some cases, this could take the form of involving one of the Dialogues. In yet other cases, a suitable form could be to initiate a Task Force with specific mandate and specific working time. Such a Task Force could be given the mandate to contribute to the preparation of a theme for a EU-US summit. The Task Force should be seen as a possibility to bring together various interests from both sides around a common theme. The theme of Sustainable Development could be a good example.

5.4. It should be mentioned that Task Forces - like the Dialogues in past years - should have the opportunity of organizing debates, seminars and hearings.

5.5. As to a possible dialogue between the dialogues, it has become obvious that there is at present no real interest for such initiatives.

5.6. The communication paper from the Commission notes that the European Parliament should be more involved in the transatlantic partnership in the future. The ESC strongly supports this proposal.

5.7. The ESC emphasises that organised civil society should also be involved more actively in the transatlantic partnership in the future. Particularly for establishing a wider public awareness of the issues and themes that are discussed at EU-US summit level, active involvement of civil society organisations is indispensable.

5.8. The role of the ESC in the transatlantic partnership is taken up in part 7.

5.9. Financial resources for the various forms of transatlantic partnership and cooperation will have to be further considered. The fact that the important Environment Dialogue has ceased to operate because of lack of funding is worrying.

5.10. The ESC proposes that annual budget frames be established for the continued transatlantic partnership and dialogues and other forms for preparation and follow-up. The group of senior diplomats in the NTA structure could have a special responsibility for the distribution of the funding.

5.11. Finally, the Committee would like to suggest that consideration be given to initiating dialogues similar to those in the NTA between the EU and Japan.

6. Trade issues

6.1. Controversial trade issues have been the specific hardship of the transatlantic partnership over the last five-ten years. Given the fact that the EU and the US are the two largest economies in the world, with a dominating position in world trade, it is not surprising that trade issues of controversial nature regularly are surfacing.

6.2. It is anyhow somewhat surprising that some trade issues have survived so many attempts at neutralising them. The banana issue is just one of them - however recently - successfully resolved.

6.3. To this picture should be added issues where the trenches are very intact, such as on genetically modified crops.

6.4. The ESC representing a wide spectrum of civil society, has a natural role in assessing the mechanisms for solving conflicting trade issues. The ESC will elaborate on this in a forthcoming opinion in view of the WTO negotiations.

6.5. It is obvious that new efforts must be made in order to establish quicker and more efficient mechanisms for solving trade issues. At the extreme, this is a question of political leadership. The point is that conflicting trade issues very quickly gets to the point of souring wide areas of cooperation, and that is not acceptable.

The Committee is of the opinion that, ultimately, the decisive factor is the commitment of both sides to adhere to and implement the decisions by the WTO, when and if EU-US disputes have to reach the level of WTO. This is a crucial factor, with consequences also for other countries. It would be fatal if the WTO mechanism is undermined by the largest economies in the world. But at the same time, all efforts should be made to resolve disputes before they reach WTO level.

6.6. The initiation of a new WTO round is an urgent topic of common high interest. The ESC finds it particularly important that the EU and the US can create a joint platform in view of the new WTO round, a platform that carries a distinct signal in support of free trade and for the support of core labour rights in trade.

6.7. The EU has decided to abolish customs on all products, except arms, from the 49 most poor countries on the globe. This is a profile decision, regardless of the fact that transition periods are remaining for some products.

6.8. The ESC expresses its firm support of this decision, and is hopeful that the US will be willing to take a similar decision.

6.9. For the poor countries, the abolishing of customs and duties on their products are particularly valuable steps in support of economic growth.

The largest economies of the world should take a joint responsibility here.

7. The role of the ESC

7.1. In this opinion, the ESC is arguing in favour of a widened involvement of organised civil society in preparation and follow-up of new themes and issues in the transatlantic partnership.

7.2. This leads to the question of the role of the ESC.

7.3. The ESC is the only institution in the EU that represents organised civil society in a wide sense. The ESC is developing this role and function, in close contact and cooperation with the other EU institutions, particularly the Parliament and the Commission.

7.4. The ESC finds it logical that the ESC, against this background, should adopt a role also in the context of the transatlantic partnership and agenda.

7.5. One part of such a role could be to organize an annual or 2-yearly Transatlantic Forum on topical issues in the transatlantic partnership. Such a Forum discussion could function as a preparatory tool in view of a forthcoming summit, and likewise serve as a support in the follow-up of previous summits.

7.6. This Forum should bring together representatives of organised civil society from both sides of the Atlantic. The Committee will consider this initiative further, with the aim of presenting a concrete proposal by the end of the year. This could make it possible to organise a first Transatlantic Forum in the Spring of 2002.

7.7. The ESC is willing and ready to assist in initiating Task Forces.

7.8. The active involvement of the Economic and Social Committee would also have another not unimportant result. By way of this involvement, the Committee will be able to assist in identifying upcoming disputes. In line with what has been stated earlier in this opinion, it is becoming more necessary to strengthen the problem-solving mechanisms, and that includes identifying would-be disputes at an early stage.

8. Building the future, for our generation and the next

8.1. One of the dominant themes in EU policy considerations this Spring is about building the future, for our generation and the next. Under the headline of Sustainable development, policy debate centres around the economic, social and environmental dimensions. A first policy decision on EU summit level is planned for June this year.

8.2. Building the future, in our globalised world of work and thought, is not a possible task for just one group of countries. Ultimately, it is a task for global commitments, from all groups of countries.

8.3. Just over ten years after the end of the cold war, and in a period where public opinion is increasingly aware of the unsustainable trends in climate, food and transport, to mention just a few examples, it is time for new efforts to create a policy for sustainable development of global dimensions.

8.4. It has to be a beginning, but a beginning with a long time horizon.

8.5. The Economic and Social Committee calls upon the forthcoming EU-US summit to take the lead in forming a global approach for a policy for sustainable development.

Brussels, 30 May 2001.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Göke Frerichs

(1) COM(2001) 154 final of 20.3.2001.

(2) The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises are recommendations addressed by the 30 OECD governments together with Argentina, Brazil and Chile to multinational enterprises operating in/or from adhering countries. They are non-binding principles and standards for responsible business conduct. The Guidelines are comprehensive in covering ten different areas: Concepts and Principles, General Policies, Disclosure, Employment and Industrial Relations, Environment, Combating Bribery, Consumer Interests, Science and Technology, Competition and Taxation. For the Guidelines to be effective, they must be properly implemented and enforced. The transatlantic dialogue should encourage this. Governments now have the opportunity to make the Guidelines known and respected by companies world-wide. However, this requires the cooperation between EU-US on the one hand and organised civil society on the other.