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THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary PRESS CONFERENCE BY PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR, AND EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT JACQUES SANTER Foreign and Commonwealth Office London, England [excerpt] 1:20 P.M. (L) PRESIDENT SANTER: Ladies and gentlemen, our summit today is the sixth between the European Union and the United States since the adoption of the new transatlantic agenda. These summits are becoming more and more important to the development of the transatlantic relationship. The breadth of issues we covered today and the substantial agreements we came to prove how worthwhile these meetings now are. The 1995 new transatlantic agenda has led to much more intense cooperation across the Atlantic. It is not just a question of warm words, but complete agreements. For example, today's signature of the mutual recognition agreement offers real benefits to business and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic. Today's summit is particularly important because we and the United States have struck a deal on the U.S. sanctions laws. This agreement, after weeks of intense negotiations with the U.S. administration, finally brings peace in this longstanding dispute. The European Union has opposed the United States sanctions laws on investments in Iran, Libya, and Cuba not only because we believe they are illegal, but also because they are counterproductive. We in Europe have always taken very seriously the fight to curb terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction. But the U.S. sanctions laws make our cooperation on these issues more, rather than less difficult. The deal today means that European companies and businessmen can conduct their business without the threat of U.S. sanctions hanging over their heads. It's a deal that's good for European companies who now have protection from the sanctions. It's a deal that is good for the European Union which has shown that it can act together, united in important foreign policy issues. And it is good for the transatlantic relationship which can now develop further, free of this longstanding dispute. There are obviously still some further steps that need to be taken before the deal can be completely implemented, but I am hopeful that these will be concluded as soon as possible. By getting rid of the biggest problem in our relationship with the United States, the door is now open to further deepen and enhance our cooperation across the Atlantic. Today at the summit we agreed to a substantial new initiative to deepen the trade relationship called the Transatlantic Economic Partnership. In this initiative, first we address the further removal of barriers in our bilateral trade. It also says that the United States and the European Union will work together to achieve the substantial further trade liberalization on a multilateral basis. Today's agreement will add to the prosperity of both the United States and the European Union, and more generally, in the world. It will, thus, create better prospects for future jobs. President Clinton, Prime Minister Tony Blair and I will be in Geneva to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the GATT, an organization which has contributed so much to the stability and prosperity of the postwar world. Our agreements this morning sends a powerful message of transatlantic support to that meeting and to the further development of multilateral liberalization. But, of course, today's summit, as is usual on these occasions, was also an opportunity to discuss many key policy issues including Turkey, Cyprus, Kosovo, and Ukraine. On Ukraine, we agreed to call on the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to play its part in the implementation of the memorandum of understanding on nuclear safety concluded between the G-7 and the Ukraine. In conclusion, this summit has placed the transatlantic relationship on an even stronger footing. We can now look forward to an even deeper partnership in the future. Thank you. PRESIDENT CLINTON: Thank you very much. I'd like to begin by thanking Prime Minister Blair for the creative and strong leadership that he has provided to the European Union and to the U.S.-EU partnership. And I thank President Santer for his years of work for European unity. America welcomes a strong partnership with a strong and united Europe, to improve the lives, the security, the well-being of our own people and others around the world. The EU, as I'm sure all of you know, is America's largest trade and investment partner. Two-way trade supports more than 6 million jobs on both sides of the Atlantic. Today I am very pleased that we have agreed to new steps to strengthen that economic partnership. First we will work to dismantle trade barriers, both bilateral and multilateral trade barriers, in areas such as manufacturing, services and agriculture -- about a dozen in all -- while maintaining the highest standards of labor and environment. Now, let me also say that we have agreed in this effort that we will make an effort to give all the stakeholders in our economic lives -- environmental stakeholders, labor stakeholders, other elements of civil society -- a chance to be heard in these negotiations, in these discussions. And I believe that is a new paradigm which ought to be mirrored in trade negotiations throughout the world. Indeed, as President Santer said, when we conclude here I am going to Geneva, where I will speak about how we can work together to strengthen the world trading system on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. And I will argue that the WTO ought to embrace the kinds of things that we and the EU have agreed to do here -- to give all the stakeholders a role, and to do a better job of respecting the importance of preserving the environment and of making sure trade works for the benefit of all the people in all the countries involved. I am also pleased that we have reached agreement today, as the Prime Minister and President Santer said, on an issue of vital importance to our own security and well-being. We share an interest in combatting terrorism and limiting the spread of weapons of mass destruction. We understand always the problems with weapons of mass destruction, but we are, I hope, all more sensitive to them in light of the recent events in South Asia. Here in London, the EU countries have committed to enhance their cooperation with us with regard to Iran. They will step up efforts to prevent the transfer of technology that could be used to develop weapons of mass destruction. They have agreed to work toward the ratification of all 11 counterterrorism conventions. We've agreed to cooperate in the development of Caspian energy resources. I'd also like to emphasize that Russia, too, has taken important steps to strengthen controls over the export of sensitive technology, notably, but not exclusively, to Iran; in effect, establishing Russia's first comprehensive catch-all export control system. We'll be watching and working closely with the Russians to help make sure this system works. The actions taken by the EU and Russia advance Congress' objective in enacting the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act. It is not primarily a sanctions act. It is an act that is designed to give the incentives for all of us to work together to retard the spread of weapons of mass destruction, and to support more aggressive efforts to fight terrorism. Therefore, the waivers we have granted today are part of our overall strategy to deter Iran from acquiring weapons of mass destruction and promoting terrorism. And it is an important new stage in our partnership. We have also forged a path-breaking common approach to deter investment in illegally expropriated property around the world, including, but not limited to Cuba. Our governments will deny all forms of commercial assistance for these transactions, including loans, grants, subsidies, fiscal advantages, guarantees, political risk insurance. This understanding furthers the goals of protecting property rights in Cuba and worldwide, advances the interests of U.S. claimants and protects U.S. investors, and does so far more effectively than the United States could have done alone. It also furthers, as the Prime Minister said and as President Santer did, the objectives of the European Union in getting away from the unilateral sanctions regime.
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