Brussels, 23 September 2004 LAWFUEL – Best law news, international law, EU, legal, attorney, law firm news – In his keynote speech at Baker & McKenzie’s 9th EU Law Conference in Brussels the U.S. Representative to the EU, Ambassador Rockwell Schnabel, unambiguously declared that enlargement is positive for Europe and the U.S. He claimed that; “Enlargement will bring a new spirit, new blood and a new kind of thinking into the EU.”
Ambassador Schnabel addressed the issues of concern to the Member States which joined the EU at 1 May 2004. He spoke of his optimism regarding U.S.-EU economic integration and said that U.S. companies will see new opportunities in Eastern Europe post-enlargement. He believes that the Euro will strengthen and the U.S.-EU relationship will continue to grow stronger despite recent political disagreements.
He highlighted the complex regulations involved in doing business on both sides of the Atlantic and stressed that a major challenge is to reduce the cost to business of these regulations and achieve convergence, thereby helping both economies to grow.
The Ambassador commented: “One important challenge is to encourage the U.S. and EU to improve regulatory frameworks, we need to engage in vigorous discussion to translate pan-Atlantic regulations.”
In this context, the Ambassador stressed there is a real opportunity for business to contribute concrete ideas for government action following an agreement to look at new ways to further strengthen the transatlantic economic relationship reached during the U.S.-EU Summit which took place in Shannon, Ireland in June 2004.
Baker & McKenzie’s 9th EU Law Conference, hosted by its European Law Centre (ELC) in Brussels, addressed key legal issues and developments affecting business in the EU, and brought together Baker & McKenzie’s leading European Lawyers.
