In an attempt to counter "protectionist sentiment," senior European and American officials said on Tuesday that concerns about national security should only be used to curb foreign investment in exceptional situations, ahead of the opening of open-skies talks between the United States and the European Union. The EU and the United States held a second meeting of the Transatlantic Economic Council formed last year to lower regulatory barriers and boost trade. An open investment policy is fundamental to prosperity and compatible with policies that address genuine national security concerns, a statement adopted at the meeting said. "We recognize our responsibility in resisting protectionist sentiment at home and in working together to oppose protectionism abroad," it said.
Europeans have been frustrated by rules that limit foreign ownership of U.S. airlines and require detailed checks of containers arriving at U.S. ports. "Measures that address national security concerns should be transparent, predictable and proportionate to the national security concerns identified, and precisely circumscribed so as to avoid unduly disrupting the flow of investment," the statement said. The EU and U.S. are their respective largest foreign investors, each holding some $1.1 trillion in the other's markets in 2006. Opening trans-Atlantic investment faces a key test this week when the next round of talks begins on a U.S.-EU aviation agreement. The discussions will touch on foreign control of U.S. carriers. Current U.S. law caps foreign control at 25 percent of the voting stock, but some lawmakers in Washington oppose scrapping the limit. "We approach with an open mind the expected European proposal to change U.S. laws that limit foreign ownership of U.S. carriers," said John Byerly, lead American negotiator in the "open skies" negotiations on Tuesday said in a speech prepared for delivery in Brussels , and reported by Reuters.
Journal of Commerce
