Our engagement with Russia, Ukraine, and other NIS is broad-based and draws upon new ties and partnerships between U.S. and NIS cities, regions, universities, scientists, students, and business people. United States assistance programs have helped these countries begin to develop the laws and legal infrastructure necessary for the rule of law as well as the building blocks of civil society. Still, the challenges ahead in each of these areas are immense. Economic hardship, social dislocation, and rampant crime and corruption threaten the foundations of democratic and law-based governance. Looming environmental problems will complicate NIS governments’ ability to develop appropriate and effective responses and policies. Similarly, government pressure on independent media, citizens groups, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and religious groups remain a recurring source of concern.
We must continue our efforts to encourage strong and effective property laws and practices in central and Eastern Europe. Such laws are a necessity for a society based on the rule of law, and are a prerequisite for competing in international markets and participating in Western institutions. A starting point is the enactment and enforcement of laws providing for the restitution of property, seized during the Nazi and communist eras, to rightful owners.
Promoting Prosperity
Europe is a key partner in America’s global commercial engagement. Europe and the United States produce almost half of all global goods and services; more than 60% of total U.S. investment abroad is in Europe; commerce between us exceeds $1 billion every day; and fourteen million workers on both sides of the Atlantic earn their livelihoods from transatlantic commerce. As part of the New Transatlantic Agenda launched in 1995, the United States and the EU agreed to take concrete steps to reduce barriers to trade and investment through creation of an open New Transatlantic Marketplace and through Mutual Recognition Agreements in goods that eliminate redundant testing and certification requirements. Our governments are also cooperating closely with the civil society dialogues established under the New Transatlantic Agenda: the Transatlantic Business Dialogue, Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue, Transatlantic Environment Dialogue, and Transatlantic Labor Dialogue. These people-to-people dialogues create opportunities for increased communication focusing on best practices, and can help their governments identify and reduce barriers to greater transatlantic interaction. In return, our governments should be committed to listen, learn, and facilitate.
Building on the New Transatlantic Agenda, the United States and the EU launched the Transatlantic Economic Partnership in 1998 to deepen our economic relations, reinforce our political ties and reduce trade frictions. The first element of the initiative is reducing barriers that affect manufacturing, agriculture, and services. In manufacturing, we are focusing on standards and technical barriers that American businesses have identified as the most significant obstacle to expanding trade. In agriculture, we are focusing on regulatory barriers that have inhibited the expansion of agriculture trade, particularly in the biotechnology area. In services, we seek to facilitate trade in specific service sectors, thereby creating new opportunities for the service industries that are already so active in the European market.
The second element of the Transatlantic Economic Partnership is a broader, cooperative approach to addressing a wide range of trade issues. We will continue to refrain from imposing duties on electronic transmissions and develop a work program in the WTO for electronic commerce. We will seek to adopt common positions and effective strategies for accelerating compliance with WTO commitments on intellectual property. We will seek to promote government procurement opportunities, including promoting compatibility of electronic procurement information and government contracting systems. To promote fair competition, we will seek to enhance the compatibility of our procedures with potentially significant reductions in cost for U.S. companies.
The United States strongly supports the process of European integration embodied in the EU. We support EU enlargement, and we are also encouraging bilateral trade and investment in non-EU countries. We recognize that EU nations face significant economic challenges and that periods of economic stagnation have eroded public support for funding outward-looking foreign policies and greater integration. We are working closely with our European partners to expand employment, promote long-term growth, and support the New Transatlantic Agenda.
Within Southeastern Europe, President Clinton and other international leaders launched a relatively new addition to the security architecture of Europe in July 1999. Called the “Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe,” the pact is a historic partnership between the international community and the countries of Southeastern Europe, designed to bolster security and advance integration into the European and transatlantic mainstream by accelerating the region’s democratic and economic development. By reducing ethnic conflict, promoting democratization and civil society, increasing trade and investment opportunities and supporting regional cooperation, we are promoting stability and prosperity in the region and providing a basis for greater integration into Europe.
Since the inception of the Stability Pact, donors have committed approximately $6 billion in development assistance for the countries of Southeastern Europe. European countries and institutions, together with international financial institutions, are providing over 85% of this assistance. Of this $6 billion, the international community has pledged more than $2.3 billion for over 200 “Quick Start” projects — many of which are focused on energy, water and transport infrastructure improvements that will have an immediate impact on people’s lives. All of the “Quick Start” projects are to be underway by the end of March 2001.
In support of economic development and reform in Southeastern Europe, the U.S. is promoting increased investment throughout the region. OPIC has launched a $150 million equity investment fund that will invest in companies in a range of sectors, including telecommunications, light manufacturing, distribution and consumer goods. The United States and the EBRID have created a $150 million fund to provide technical assistance and lending, in cooperation with local financial institutions, to promote micro, small and medium enterprise development in Southeast Europe. The United States will work with the EBRID to expand the operation of this fund and other activities to Montenegro.
To combat corruption and bureaucratic uncertainty, countries in the region have agreed under the Stability Pact to increase efforts to promote transparency and the rule of law. Under the agreed upon Anti-Corruption Initiative, each member country in the region has committed to make domestic government procurements more transparent, take specific measures to promote public service integrity, and establish a review body to monitor accountability in the administration of foreign aid programs and national anti-corruption efforts.
To promote deeper integration with the rest of Europe and transatlantic institutions, the United States supports EU efforts to play a leading role in the Stability Pact and welcomes closer relations between the EU and the countries of the region. We are urging the EU to strengthen these ties and to act quickly on proposals to open further its markets to Southeastern European products. As the United States’ support (in October and November 2000) for FRY admission into the Stability Pact, UN, and OSCE demonstrates, guidelines like those expressed by the Stability Pact serve as worthy benchmarks for inclusiveness into a wider circle of nations.