The EU will be "a strong partner with the US in political, economic and security matters", the Tánaiste Mary Harney, has told a pre-EU/US Summit meeting of international business leaders in Limerick today.
The Tánaiste was addressing the executive board of the TransAtlantic Business Dialogue (TABD), whose members include the CEOs of some 30 major international companies.
The TABD delegation was led jointly by Mr. Niall Fitzgerald, outgoing CEO of Unilever, and Mr. Michael Eskew, CEO of UPS.
The meeting in Adare Manor, Co. Limerick, was also attended by the US Secretary for State for Commerce, Mr. Donald Evans, and the EU Commissioner for Enterprise, Mr. Jan Figel.
The agenda included a discussion of the implications for transatlantic trade of new US and EU anti-terrorist security controls.
The meeting also discussed intellectual property rights and the fight against counterfeiting, international accounting standards, and the World Trade Organisation Doha Development Round talks.
In her address the Tánaiste said Europe was now at the beginning of a new era in transatlantic relations in which the economic relationship between Europe and the US would be central.
'Based on shared values, it will be a partnership for open societies, open markets and an open world. Building a transatlantic relationship that benefits the world requires each of us to achieve healthy, growing economies. We don't need the same economies on both sides of the Atlantic. We need diverse competitive strengths within our economies and between them', she said.
She added that the United States had played an essential role for many decades as a partner for success in Europe and in Ireland and that since Europe and the US are so integrated, structures are needed to deal with not only the traditional trade issues, but also with 'regulations, accounting standards, intellectual property rights, economic governance and competition policy'.
