Toespraak eurocommissaris De Gucht over de handelsrelatie tussen de VS en de EU (en)

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great honour for me to accept this Transatlantic Business Award here in the splendid setting of the Concert Noble. This award is important to me, for several reasons.

Throughout my career, and especially as Belgium's Minister of Foreign Affairs and in my current post as Trade Commissioner, I have been making the case for closer ties between America and Europe, our societies, our economies and our governments.

Nowadays, on both sides of the Atlantic, some people doubt about the importance of this transatlantic bond. They see it as a solid thing of the past, which has lost its shine over the last twenty years with the fall of communism and the rise of new economic powers. They tend to set their sights in other directions.

I beg to differ.

However important BRICs may become, the transatlantic link remains the cornerstone of our international outlook.

When we look for allies, for people that share our political, moral and economic values,

When we look for partners and investors, among companies and governments that share our vision on the rule of law and the market economy…

… it is still first and foremost across the Atlantic that we find them.

That is not to deny other emerging economies their success, nor their growing prominence on the world stage. But it is a basic fact of life: more often than not, the EU and the US are two of a kind, sharing deep down what it is that we want and don’t want.

We are both children of the Enlightenment and the standard-bearers of democracy, freedom and human rights. We have far more in common than with any other big player in the world!

Being friends and strong partners does not mean that we will do things the same way, that our particular interests are identical or that we do not quarrel. We have regular disputes and sometimes we even end up in court in Geneva, but these disputes take place on a bedrock of fundamental trust and understanding.

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Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am particularly happy that it is the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU that is giving me this award.

Because, as European Commissioner for Trade, I know how desirable it is that business across the Atlantic speaks up. The prosperity of our two economies depends in significant part on this relationship. You are the main actors! This prize underlines that you care.

Let me briefly recall the dimensions of the transatlantic economy:

The commercial exchanges across the Atlantic are estimated at mind-boggling 4000 billion euro.

Up to 15 million jobs are linked to the transatlantic economy.

More than half of the world's GDP is in this region.

We are each others' most important trading partners.

And - even more importantly - we have an unrivalled investment relationship of more than 2000 billion of investment stocks on both sides of the Atlantic.

The most distinctive feature of the US-EU link is the colossal mutual foreign direct investment, which sets it apart from any other link in the world. Two striking examples to make the point: US firms are investing more in Belgium than in either Brazil, China or India. EU investments in the US represent more than 2/3 of the overall investment inflows.

In brief, we have a well-functioning transatlantic market, unrivalled in size and quality.

But we should beware of complacency. We still can do much better. I will return to that subject in a moment.

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Aside from our bilateral link, there is the question of how we co-operate to engage with the rest of the world.

The US and EU economy together still account for close to half of global GDP. Despite our undeniable problems like high unemployment or public finances that are deeply in the red, we are still the world’s dominant players. Of course, China, India, Russia, Brazil, Turkey etc.. are catching up fast. The world is becoming multi-polar, as demonstrated by the prominent role accorded to the G-20. We are still big, but our relative weight, and thus influence, is declining. That should prompt us to co-ordinate more systematically our views on world fora and display joint leadership, which, in the years to come, may still prove decisive in setting the course of global affairs.

Our leadership is called for in a variety of domains, including the further liberalisation and governance of international trade.

This year we have entered the tenth year of negotiations of the Doha round and for the credibility of the WTO as well as world growth it is high time we conclude with a package that is rich in substance on market access and tighter rules. Such a package will inevitably involve give-and-take, also from the two of us.

Based on my initiative taken in Davos earlier this year, senior officials have been working to push the round towards a conclusion, and the EU has produced last month a compromise deal to get a breakthrough in NAMA, which is the main gateway to an overall agreement.

However, the political will on various sides is not yet strong enough, and there are even those who want to drop Doha altogether. But despair is never a good counsel. Abandoning Doha would be calamitous indeed because, like it or not, there is no realistic, attractive, alternative to the current agenda. What is crucial now is leadership, to make the necessary concessions and sell the result at home.

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Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me bring my remarks to a close by returning to our bilateral economic relationship.

The main obstacles to our trade are non-tariff barriers. For that reason, we have re-energised the Transatlantic Economic Council. The TEC is one of the priorities in my tenure as Trade Commissioner. Together with Mike Froman, we have made the TEC more relevant, more strategic and more focused on deliverables. We no longer just talk the TEC, we do the TEC!

The TEC has started to deliver. Only a few weeks ago, we agreed on principles for trade in the ICT sector. And there is a good "pipeline" in the TEC with promising perspectives.

To give you a prime example: the development of electric vehicles. This has been identified as a priority area for our work together. Here is a really booming sector with enormous economic potential. We wish to have more than one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015 in America and Europe!

We are about to roll out an ambitious programme of cooperation: on joint standards, batteries, research, and the link between the car and the grid. Acting together, we have a real chance to set the pace for the future development of this sector, to accelerate innovation and to secure jobs and growth in America and in the EU.

The TEC is really key in fostering closer links between us and I already thank the business community for the continued push in the back you will give to it!

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Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today's award means a lot to me. I am honoured to receive the prize after so important personalities as the previous award winners.

As is the practice, I will donate my award to a charitable organisation. I have chosen the Flemish association "Schoonderhage", which is a non-profit organisation active in supporting people with mental disabilities.

Schoonderhage accommodates persons with mental disabilities and helps them to participate in a range of activities. It is active in six different locations for about 200 people. There are currently two new locations planned or under construction and with my contribution, I would like to support this important work.

In their name, and in my own, I would like to thank you all very much.