The heads of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the Confederation of European Business (UNICE) have called on President Bush, European Council President Wolfgang Schussel, and European Commission President Jose Manual Barroso to make joint decisive moves to bring the Doha Round of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations to a successful conclusion by the end of this year, at the EU-U.S Summit in Vienna, Austria.
“Now more than ever, the world’s two largest industrial groups, with a combined membership accounting for over half of the world’s manufacturing production, are calling for urgent leadership at the EU-U.S. Summit to quickly produce an ambitious Doha Round,” said NAM President John Engler. “At this critical time in the negotiations, only President Bush, President Schussel and President Barroso can make the political decisions necessary to realize this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
“The time for a decisive move is now and only the United States and the European Union, working together, can induce others to put their cards on the table in the short time left,” said UNICE President Ernest-Antoine Seilliere. “While services, trade facilitation and rules are business priorities, the key decisions for the coming months lie in agriculture and in manufacturing and this is where we need to see the United States and European Union act now.”