EU, us to push for trans-Atlantic trade deal

The European Union and the United States Wednesday announced that they have agreed to pursue negotiations aimed at achieving an overall free trade trans-Atlantic deal.

The 27-country EU said such an agreement would be the largest bilateral trade deal ever negotiated and would boost the EU's economic output by 0.5 percent-a highly desirable result when the EU and the us with the slow growth, high unemployment and high levels of debt are struggling.

"Both of us have to growth," said Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, the executive body of the EU. "And both of us have budgetary problems."

Trade between the United States and the European Union is already huge, up to € 2 billion ($ 2.69 billion) per day, EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said.

The goal would be to remove the import tariffs, which average 4 percent, and reduce the approval processes that companies must go through to products to sell on both sides of the Atlantic.

President Barack Obama said in a statement issued by the White House, that the US was "committed to this relationship an even stronger engine of our prosperity".

"Through these negotiations, the United States and the European Union will have the opportunity not only to expand trade and investment across the Atlantic, but also to contribute to the development of global rules that can strengthen the multilateral trading system," he added.

De Gucht said the first meetings with the summer should begin.

The negotiations cover a huge range of commercial and agricultural areas. Officials hope to complete them within two years.

For these negotiations to succeed, we must above all political will, "said Barroso."These negotiations will not always be easy. "

But he added that a successful negotiation would lead to a "win-win" situation, and "a game-changer."

An example of where the two economies could benefit from the talks is car-making: if each side recognized the other car safety standards, a car manufacturer would not have to comply with two different types of requirements.

However, some trade areas probably remain outside the negotiations. For example, it is unlikely that the European Union allows the import of many genetically modified crops or beef from cattle treated with certain hormones.