The EU and the US will work together to relaunch a new world trade round before the end of the year, President Clinton and EU leaders agreed at their joint summit outside Lisbon yesterday. The initiative, suggested by the EU, is a strong signal that Mr Clinton does not intend to while away his last months in power. After the fiasco in Seattle last December, it represents an important gamble by the world's two largest trade blocs that they can get an agenda agreed for talks ahead of China's likely World Trade Organisation accession next year.
The summit also agreed to support a G8 initiative at the forthcoming Okinawa summit on AIDS and communicable diseases; endorsed a deal on the mutual protection of data privacy; and agreed to establish a joint biotechnology forum of eminent people to foster understanding of issues raised by scientific development. The forum will report to the next summit in six months.
But the two trading blocs, as expected, failed to make any headway on a series of bilateral trade disputes about such issues as hormones in beef, GMOs in cereals, bananas and tax breaks for US exporters.
Significant progress, however, has been made on ensuring short-term access to markets for the least-developed countries.
Mr Clinton confirmed that he will meet the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Barak, in Lisbon today to discuss Middle East peace developments following Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon last week. The withdrawal, he said, creates "a whole new situation. All the balls are up in the air now. This creates a new urgency".
The summit took place in Queluz Palace, an 18th-century former royal residence near Lisbon. It was attended by Mr Clinton and the US Secretaries of State and Commerce, Ms Madeleine Albright and Ms Charlene Barchevsky respectively; the Portuguese Prime Minister and President of the European Council, Mr Antonio Guterres; the President of the Commission, Mr Romano Prodi; the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Mr Javier Solana; and the Commissioners for Trade and External Relations, Mr Pascal Lamy and Mr Chris Patten respectively.
The declaration on communicable diseases commits both the EU and US to work to raise funding for research and distribution of medicines in the developing world, particularly Africa, and to help develop new international partnerships to combat AIDS, malaria and TB. President Clinton also sought to reassure Europe over plans for a new US missile defence system, saying he was willing to share the technology aimed at defending against a rogue attack.
"I have always said that I thought that if the United States had such technology, and if the purpose of the technology is to provide protection against irresponsible new nuclear powers and their possible alliances with terrorists and other groups, then every country that is part of a responsible international arms control and non-proliferation regime should have the benefit of this protection," he said.
