WRITTEN QUESTION E-1719/03

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(23 May 2003)

Subject: Failure of transatlantic dialogue and public nature of efforts to resume this dialogue or not

1. What were the grounds for Commissioner Lamy saying in Washington in early March that there was a sort of fatigue problem with the Transatlantic Business Dialogue (TABD)? What expectations had the TABD failed to meet or would it be unable to meet in the future?

2. Can the Commission confirm that it has decided, together with the US Administration, to strengthen the TABD and give it new tasks, in particular preparing for further WTO negotiations? What is expected from the revamped TABD?

3. Is the correspondence between Commissioners Lamy and Liikanen and US Commerce Secretary Evans, including Evans' proposal, to be made public or at least available to Members of the European Parliament?

4. Are the minutes of the meetings in Brussels at the end of April, at which the proposal to relaunch the TABD was discussed, available to the public or at least to Members of the European Parliament?

5. Can NGOs and Members of the European Parliament attend the half-day meeting on the margins of the 25 June US-EU summit if they so wish?

6. Is the Commission aware that two other transatlantic dialogues, the TAED for the environment and the TALD for labour, have virtually stopped and that they are therefore just as worthy of relaunching and strengthening as the TABD?

7. Is the Commission also taking the initiative in efforts to re-energise the other transatlantic dialogues with civil society or does it take the view that, unlike the TABD, there is no justification for their continued existence?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(15 July 2003)

1. The Transatlantic Business Dialogue (TABD) was created in 1995 as part of the effort to build bridges between the civil societies on the two sides of the Atlantic. Therefore, it by its nature aims at solving differences and at dismantling barriers to trade between the Union and the United States. The added value of this dialogue between businesses and governments lies in the area of transatlantic economic relations. Naturally, the TABD is only one of the many fora where transatlantic relations are discussed. The ideas for the re-launching of the TABD, currently under examination, will allow time to be spent on what is really essential.

2. In the exchanges of letters between the Member of the Commission responsible for Enterprises and Information Society, and the Member of the Commission responsible for Trade and the United States Secretary of Commerce Don Evans during the spring of 2003, the Commission and the United States Administration have renewed their commitment and continued support to the TABD process. However, neither the Commission nor the United States Administration is in the position to decide to give new tasks to the TABD as it continues to be a business-driven process with recommendations from the business-community to the administrations. As such, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations have been an issue on which the business community has given views to the governments, and this may also be the case in the future. The new TABD format is expected to give added focus to the discussions.

3. On the question of public access to documents related to the TABD, the Commission refers to the reply given to the Honourable Member on 17 February 2003 (Written Question E-3893/02(1)). The Commission has made the correspondence between the above mentioned Members of the Commission and the United States Commerce Secretary Evans available to all those participating in the TABD process. Copies of this correspondence can be provided on request to the Members of the Parliament and to members of the public.

4. As to the documents referred to as minutes of the meetings in Brussels at the end of April 2003 at which the proposal to relaunch of the TABD was discussed, any request to the Commission for access to such documents, by Members of the Parliament as well as by members of the public, will have to be handled in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to Parliament, Council and Commission documents(2).

5. Participation in the half-day TABD Chief Executive Officer (CEO)-government meeting in the margins of the 25 June EU-United States Summit is limited to a core group of CEOs representatives of the Union and United States business community, whose companies have for the most part been active in the TABD leadership functions in the past. The Commission has not been responsible for the invitation list and is not aware of a request by the Parliament to participate in this meeting.

6. The Commission regrets that the Trans Atlantic Environment Dialogue (TAED) is not active at present and has encouraged environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to renew their transatlantic co-operation.

The Commission would like to inform the Honourable Member that the Trans Atlantic Labour Dialogue (TALD) is being pursued, in very practical terms, through co-operation between the European Trade Union College (ETUCO) and the training agency of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organisations (AFL-CIO) in the project Improving Transatlantic Dialogue the world of work aimed at improving communication and co-operation between trade union representatives from multinational companies active on both sides of the Atlantic.

Similarly, the consumer dialogue (TACD) continues to be active in bringing the perspective of consumer representatives to the dialogue between European and US authorities. At the meeting with TACD leaders in April 2003, TACD presented its 2003 Priorities for Government Action to Commission and US officials. The Commission response to the report card on European and US progress on TACD recommendations, produced by the TACD at its Annual meeting in October 2002, has been transmitted to the Parliament.

7. The Commission stresses the importance it attaches to the work of all the transatlantic dialogues with civil society. The Transatlantic Business, Consumer, Environment and Labour Dialogues have all made equally valuable contributions to the shaping of the transatlantic relationship, its objectives and activities. The Commission is convinced that the transatlantic dialogues will continue to play a strong and valuable role in taking the relationship forward in the future.

(1) OJ C 155 E, 3.7.2003, p. 200.

(2) OJ L 145, 31.5.2001.