    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
    [October 27, 1999]
    [Pages 1894-1895]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Joint Declaration by President William Jefferson Clinton and European
    Commission President Romano Prodi
    October 27, 1999

        1. President Clinton and President Prodi held a wide-ranging
    discussion on 27 October about the prospects for launching a new Round
    of trade negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO) next month
    at Seattle. There was an essential overlap of interests and a desire to
    collaborate closely to bridge remaining differences.
        2. They recalled the EU-U.S. Bonn Declaration of June 1999, where we
    agreed that ``together we can advance our shared values, our common
    security and our mutual prosperity more effectively than either of us
    alone. Together . . . we can face . . . the complexity of ensuring that
    democracy and free markets improve tangibly the lives of people in a
    rapidly globalizing world.''
        3. Mindful of the essential role played by the multilateral trading
    system in supporting over the last 50 years the greatest economic
    expansion in history and more recently in containing the adverse impacts
    of economic downturns in Asia and elsewhere, the two leaders agreed to
    strive to secure agreement in Seattle to launch a new Round of global
    trade negotiations.
        4. Their discussions concentrated on the possible topics for a new
    Round and how to provide momentum for a successful launch at Seattle.
    Not only agriculture and services, but a number of other issues need to
    be included, to meet the U.S. and EU's respective interests and those of
    our partners, but also to ensure that the WTO continues to be a leading
    part of the solution to the problems that will confront the global
    economy in the next century. In this respect, they discussed topics such
    as comprehensive market access; greater coherence in international
    economic policy making to complement and enhance the work underway in
    the Bretton Woods institutions and other UN agencies; government
    procurement (including transparency and market access); foreign direct
    investment; electronic commerce (including extension of the moratorium
    agreed last May); competition; trade facilitation; trade-related
    intellectual property rights protection (TRIPS); technical barriers to
    trade; and the issue of early agreements, provisional where necessary.
    While differences remain between the United States and the European
    Union as to the most appropriate scope for the forthcoming negotiations,
    both sides

    [[Page 1895]]

    agreed to continue to take forward their discussions in a constructive
    spirit in forthcoming weeks.
        5. The leaders agreed that the new round had to be definitively
    different in content and process from its predecessors. For example, we
    had to take into account the rapid advances in technology, particularly
    related to electronic commerce. They agreed on the goal of better
    addressing the social dimensions of trade by promoting a substantive
    dialogue with our partners, involving the WTO and the ILO, although we
    still differ on the modalities. The dialogue would include an
    examination of the relationship between trade policy, trade
    liberalization, development and fundamental labor rights, so as to
    maximize the benefits of open trade for workers. The two leaders also
    agreed that the new round should enhance the potential for positive
    synergies between trade liberalization, environmental protection and
    economic development.
        6. But the agenda for the new Round also had to address the needs
    and interests of all our partners. Although major players in the world
    economy, the U.S. and EU needed to do more than in previous Rounds to
    work with all our partners in the WTO system. The new Round should offer
    major opportunities to the developing countries, strengthening their
    role in the world economy. Particular attention needs to be paid to the
    least developed countries. Their concerns and interests should be fully
    taken into account, including through specifically targeted, enhanced,
    and effective market access and capacity building.
        7. An additional important new element was to make the multilateral
    trading system as responsive as possible to all our citizens. The two
    leaders agreed to work vigorously to assure the public that the trading
    system and the WTO as an institution works in the broadest interests of
    everyone--and to ensure that this remains the case. Both leaders renewed
    their commitment to the WTO Dispute Settlement System, and agreed that
    WTO decisions should be respected and implemented. The leaders also
    anticipated ratifying at Seattle a package of improvements to the
    Dispute Settlement Understanding. Additionally, they agreed to work
    towards enhanced transparency in the WTO decision-making process.

    Washington, D.C.,

    27 October 1999

    Note: An original was not available for verification of the content of
    this joint declaration.