Transport

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Because of the importance of transport to the free movement of goods, the 1992 single market program introduced market-opening legislation—applicable EU-wide for all modes of transport. Considerable progress has been achieved in the deregulation of road, air, and maritime services; better access to the market; and the application of competition rules. Legislation has been introduced that would address the needs of the rail sector. A primary objective of transport policy is to establish "sustainable mobility." This means organizing transport so as to make optimum use of energy consumption and transport times, routes, and conditions.

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Chapter 5:

EU Relations with the United States

Transatlantic relations encompass more than EU-US relations. North America and many EU countries provide for their common security in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The US also maintains strong political, economic, and cultural relations with many individual European nations, both within the European Union and elsewhere. Business and economic ties linking the two continents are extremely strong, and there are innumerable other nongovernmental organizations linking people and institutions on both sides of the Atlantic.

However, the US increasingly turns to the EU as a partner to share the burdens of world leadership. This is partly because of the emergence of the EU as a more significant political and economic global actor and partly because of diminishing preoccupation on both sides with the overarching security threat that bound Europe and the United States together so strongly during the cold war.

This new geopolitical environment led to changes in the nature of EU-US relations. The 1990 Transatlantic Declaration formally defined EU-US relations immediately after the collapse of Communism in Central and Eastern Europe. The 1995 New Transatlantic Agenda (NTA) and Joint Action Plan (defined below) stepped up this relationship from consultation to joint EU-US action as the basis for partnership in addressing a very wide range of regional and world issues.

The next era of transatlantic relations will be shaped by the ability of the EU to assume the broad range of responsibilities that come with playing a more active global role and by the willingness of the US to accept the EU as a full partner in dealing with issues that extend beyond the international economy.

Left to Right: EU External Relations Commissioner Patten, High Representative for Common Foreign & Security Policy Solana, Belgian Foreign Minister Michel, and US Secretary of State Powell.

Following meetings with EU leaders, US Secretary of State Colin Powell noted that:"77?e European Union's principled response to the September 11th attacks and to our call for a

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united Europe is good, indeed essential, for the United States, for Europe, and for the world. Our common objective is security for our peoples. Let no one doubt the will and the power of our free societies to defend the security of our citizens, even as we safeguard our democratic values."

(September 20, 2001)

New Transatlantic Agenda

In December 1995, the presidents of the European Union and the United States agreed on a comprehensive New Transatlantic Agenda (NTA) aimed at more effective cooperation and leadership in areas ranging from trade liberalization to security and humanitarian assistance.

This strategy is based on an Action Plan built around four main principles: promoting peace, development, and democracy; responding to global challenges; contributing to the expansion of world trade; and building bridges across the Atlantic. The Action Plan builds on the 1990 Transatlantic Declaration, which formalized official contacts between the United States and European Union.

The NTA provides an institutionalized framework for official EU-US interactions. These include regular consultations or "summits" of the presidents of the United States, the European Council, and the Commission as well as meetings involving other officials and legislators. The European Commission recently suggested reforms to the NTA process to bring greater strategic focus to EU-US cooperation.

The NTA also stimulates new people-to-people links to strengthen the fabric of transatlantic relations among citizens. Dialogues have thus been launched among business people, labor unions, consumers, and environmentalists. To promote understanding of the EU and to stimulate transatlantic exchanges, the EU funds a network of fifteen EU Centers (listed below) in universities around the United States (http://www.eucenters.org/).

EU CENTERS IN THE US

Centers

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• University of California at Berkeley	• University of Oklahoma
• Florida International University and the University of	• University of Pittsburgh
Miami	• Syracuse University
• University System of Georgia	• Texas A&M University
• University of Illinois	• University of Washington
• University of Michigan	• University of Wisconsin at Madison
• University of Missouri	• Washington, DC Consortium (American University,
• New York City Consortium (New York University,	George Mason University, George Washington
New School University, City University of New York)	University, Georgetown University, The Johns Hopkins
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	University)