The Transatlantic Economic Council, or commonly called TEC, is a body set up between the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 (US) and European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 (EU) to direct economic co-operation between the two economies.

Establishment and chairmanship

It was established by an agreement signed on 30 April 2007 at the White House

White House

The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...

 by US President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

, EU Council President

President of the European Council

The President of the European Council is a principal representative of the European Union on the world stage, and the person presiding over and driving forward the work of the European Council...

 Angela Merkel

Angela Merkel

Angela Dorothea Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.From 2005 to 2009 she led a...

 (also German Chancellor) and EU Commission President

President of the European Commission

The President of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission ― the executive branch of the :European Union ― the most powerful officeholder in the EU. The President is responsible for allocating portfolios to members of the Commission and can reshuffle or dismiss them if needed...

 José Manuel Barroso.

The Council is co-chaired by an EU and US official. Currently,they are: Michael Froman

Michael Froman

Michael Froman is deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs, a position to be held jointly at the National Security Council and the National Economic Council...

, Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs; and Karel De Gucht

Karel De Gucht

Karel Lodewijk Georgette Emmerence De Gucht is a Belgian politician who has been the European Commissioner for Trade since 2010...

, European Commissioner for Trade

European Commissioner for Trade

The European Commissioner for Trade is the member of the European Commission responsible for the European Union's common commercial policy...

. It meets at least once a year, called by the chairs.

Work

The Council is tasked with helping to meet economic partnership objectives and harmonize regulation

Regulation

Regulation is administrative legislation that constitutes or constrains rights and allocates responsibilities. It can be distinguished from primary legislation on the one hand and judge-made law on the other...

s. Other priorities include: road safety

Road-traffic safety

The term road traffic safety is about the risk of a person being killed or seriously injured while using the road network as a pedestrian, cyclist, motorist or user of on road public transport...

, and petrol conservation, cosmetic testing

Testing cosmetics on animals

Testing cosmetics on animals is a form of animal testing, intended to ensure the safety and hypoallergenic properties of the products for use by humans...

 (aiming to find alternatives for animal testing

Animal testing

Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and in vivo testing, is the use of non-human animals in experiments. Worldwide it is estimated that the number of vertebrate animals—from zebrafish to non-human primates—ranges from the tens of millions to more than 100 million...

), technologies and more co-operation. However the Council has been criticised as getting bogged down in minor detail and failing to produce results.

At a TEC meeting on 17 December 2010 in Washington, D.C. the leaders released a U.S.-EU Transatlantic Economic Council Joint Statement.

External links

• Transatlantic Economic Council, United States Department of State
• 2010 Transatlantic Economic Council Joint Statement, White House
• Transatlantic Economic Council, European Commission - Enterprise and Industry
• Text of the agreement, White House
  White House
  The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
  
  , 2007-04-30
• Bush OKs 'integration' with European Union, World Net Daily, 2007-05-08
• EU-US summit to set up transatlantic economic council, The Raw Story, 2007-04-26
• FFII: McCreevy wants to legalise Software Patents via a US-EU patent treaty