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President Van Rompuy: Thank you. Good evening.
This has been a pleasure to welcome President Obama to the
EU-US Summit here in Lisbon.
It is the first time that as President of the European
Council, along with the President of the European
Commission, I'm hosting this annual summit on behalf of the
27 heads of state and government of the European Union just one
year after the previous summit.
The United States is and continues to be our closest
and most important partner.
Both the EU and the U.S. are in a rapidly changing G-20 world.
We share a transatlantic area of 800 million people,
producing almost half of the world's GDP.
We share the same values, interests, and objectives.
To build on this common ground it is not enough
to simply use expressions like transatlantic dialogue
or strategic partnership.
We need to set things into motion and that's why our
discussion focused on concrete concerns for our citizens: Jobs
and growth, security, and a world clean and stable.
We have had a good discussion this afternoon.
I would like to underline the following three points:
The economy, security and foreign policy.
First at the center of our ambitions to advance
the economic recovery.
In global terms this means engaging constructively together
and with emerging economies on global imbalances.
We have a common interest to ensure that what was agreed last
week with difficulties ensued on this issue will be delivered.
On bilateral aspects, President Barroso will brief you.
As regards to EU's own economic situation,
I underline here as I did earlier to President Obama
that the fundamentals of our economy are sound.
The European Union has much high levels of economic growth than
expected a few months ago.
We have low inflation, a current account of the balance
of payments in the Caribbean and positive prospects for
jobs in 2011.
A lot of member states are involved in reform programs to
strengthen their economies, to consolidate their budgets and to
prepare the aging of the population.
The Union decided upon a new and robust framework for economic
governments in order to underpin our common currency
and our common markets.
And moreover, we have put in place the necessary instruments
of financial support and the strong conditionality
to overcome the current problems in the Euros.
And second, we share the same vision on
the future of security.
Both our societies are built on the free flow of people,
goods and information.
The networks these flows require face threats of a new kind:
Terrorism, market disruption, and cyber attacks.
The European Union and the U.S. cooperation has added value here.
And that's why we decided to develop our partnership on a
wide range of security issues.
These needs to be founded on our respect for fundamental
rights and freedoms.
On cyber security, as also stated earlier at the NATO
Summit is a threat with an immense impact.
EU-US cooperation in this field can contribute
to protect ourselves against it and, therefore,
happy to announce that the European Union and the United
States will enhance their cooperation by creating an EU-US
working group on cyber security.
The working group will report progress within a year.
And furthermore, speedy compromise on a comprehensive
EU-US data production agreement will significantly facilitate
all negotiations between the EU and U.S. on passenger
name records, cyber security,
fight against terrorism and against national
organized crime.
And third and last on foreign policy,
Iran's nuclear program remains a grave concern to us all.
I recall to President Obama the EU's restrictive measures
on Iran adopted in June.
Without our working together, the sanctions
would be inoperative.
I also informed the President that we believe we now have
very good chance to engage Iran in direct talks under
the leadership of the high representative
on December the 5th.
On Sudan, we need to ensure that the upcoming referenda
reflect the will of the population's concerns.
In order to build confidence in the referendum,
the EU is deploying an electoral observation mission.
Regarding to the Middle East, I expressed the Union's support to
President Obama's efforts to put the direct talks back on track.
I also recalled the EU's vital contribution to the process
through our assistance to the Palestinian authority.
And on EU NATO relations we all welcome yesterday's agreement on
NATO's new strategic concept.
I irritate -- reiterate to the President my belief that we have
an opportunity to make serious progress on the
EU NATO Strategic Partnership while respecting the legitimate
concerns of all EU member states and all EU allies and without
discriminating any way.
We had, ladies and gentlemen, a fruitful summit.
We saw eye to eye.
And, Mr. President, I wish you a good trip home.
Moderator: President Barroso, please.
President Barroso: Thank you. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
President Van Rompuy presented the main results.
I will not repeat them.
You have a joint statement that shows the level of our ambition
for this strategic vital relationship.
I will not go into details.
Let me just say that we covered a lot of ground and we have
committed to this continued dialogue and close cooperation.
We have tasked our ministers, our commissioners for concrete work.
We have committed to further consultation and in fact more
deep consultation on many matters,
bilateral and also global issues.
My impression, I like to convey to you my impression
about this summit.
It was indeed a very intimate, friendly, focused summit.
No one read notes.
There was a real dialogue and I think this is indeed what we
are looking for when we discuss these kind of issues at summit
level so that there is a real exchange about the priorities
so that we can set work for the future.
And there was in fact a great, great sense of convergence,
common strategic goals and a willingness to work together on
bilateral and on global issues.
On bilateral we have agreed that there is still potentially now a
transatlantic economic relationship so we have tasked
now the Transatlantic Economic Council to do more and to
achieve concrete results in terms of regulatory convergence,
eliminating some barriers to trade,
what we can do to create new sources of growth on both sides
of the Atlantic, growth and jobs,
that's what our citizens expect from us on both
sides of the Atlantic.
And I believe there is a great potential on issues like clean
technologies, innovation, many areas where both the United
States and the European Union can benefit from
this increased cooperation.
On global action also we addressed some issues
from climate change to development issues,
energy dialogue that took place yesterday also chaired by
Secretary Clinton and her representative Kathy Ashton
where there is also a great potential for common approaches
globally because there are common challenges.
There are some problems with our borders that we
need to tackle together.
So let me conclude with a very personal remark.
I have been to many summits.
I think to a large extent this was different because of the
intimate, informal way these matters were addressed.
I really have a lot of admiration, I have to say,
by President Obama's physical resilience after all of the
summits he has been.
Still in Yokohama time.
And I really want to thank him for the
quality of the exchanges.
I think we have now a great foundation for the work between
the United States and the Europeans for the next years.
Together we can do much more in our relationship that is
so important for our people on both sides of the Atlantic.
And I thank you all for the great contributions for the
success of this summit.
President Obama: Well, thank you, very much. Good evening, everyone.
It is a pleasure to be here with President Barroso and
President Van Rompuy.
I am proud to be here.
I was proud to meet with the leaders of the 27 European
Member States during our summit in Prague last year.
I was pleased to welcome President Barroso and
the EU leadership to the White House last fall.
I have been pleased to work with both Herman and José
at the G-20 context.
And today marks our first summit under the EU's Lisbon Treaty.
So it was also wonderful to meet Kathy Ashton who
is doing outstanding work.
You know, this summit was not as exciting as other summits
because we basically agree on everything.
But nevertheless, I value these meetings for a simple reason:
America's relationship with our European allies and partners
is the cornerstone of our engagement with the world
and it's a catalyst for global cooperation,
whether it's creating jobs for our people,
sustaining global economic recovery,
protecting our citizens, preventing nuclear
proliferation, the United States has no
closer partner than Europe.
And we're not simply united by shared interests;
we're united by shared history, by shared democratic values,
a shared set of traditions that have endured for generations.
That's why the United States needs and wants a strong and
united Europe.
That's why our summit today focused on three important
areas of mutual interest.
First we agreed to take a series of steps to increase trade and
investment which already amounts to a $4.4 trillion relationship
and supports millions of jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.
We directed our Transatlantic Economic Council to focus on
streamlining regulations, encouraging innovation,
eliminating barriers that hamper trade and investment.
And building on the progress of the G-20 Summit in Seoul
we reaffirmed the need for currencies that are market
driven and for countries with large surpluses to
boost domestic demand.
Second, we reviewed our close security cooperation.
We saw with the recent security alerts in Europe as well as the
plot that was disrupted to detonate explosives in cargo
flights that we have to work every day to keep our citizens
safe and we will continue to do so.
And from our common efforts to address Iran's nuclear program,
to our work together in Sudan.
We're also partners in promoting stability and averting crises
around the world.
And now that NATO has agreed that the transition to Afghan
responsibility will begin early next year,
to use their role as a major donor to Afghanistan and a
trainer for police forces will only become more important.
Finally, we're coordinating on a series of global issues.
With regard to climate change we directed our U.S.
EU Energy Council to find ways to bring clean energy
technologies to market faster.
And we're standing by our Copenhagen commitments to
reduce emissions as we work towards Cancun.
And as the world's source of most of -- as the source of
most of the world's development assistance,
we agreed to better coordinate our assistance and ensure a more
effective division of labor to avoid duplication and
inefficiency as I've called for in our new development strategy.
So again, I want to thank President Barroso,
President Van Rompuy for their strong leadership
and their partnership.
I am confident that if we continue to deepen the close
cooperation between the United States and the EU we can deliver
greater security and greater prosperity for our 800 million
citizens on both sides of the Atlantic.
And let me just use this opportunity once again to
thank the people of Portugal for the wonderful hospitality.
I plan to come back when I have fewer meetings.
(laughter)
Thank you, very much.