    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book I)]
    [January 8, 2007]
    [Pages 13-14]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Meeting With President Jose Manuel Durao
    Barroso of the European Commission
    January 8, 2007

        President Bush. I'm very pleased to welcome back my friend Jose
    Barroso. Thank you. We just had a great discussion about the importance
    between--of relations between the United States and the European Union.
    Jose has got a really important job, and I think he's doing it really
    well.
        Our discussion was frank; it was open. We talked about the
    importance of the transatlantic relationship and how we can work to
    improve it. We talked about the importance for Europe and the United
    States to resolve any differences we have when it comes to the Doha
    round for trade, so that we can promote international trade. We both
    recognize that the best way to help impoverished nations is to complete
    this Doha round and to encourage the spread of wealth and opportunity
    through open and reasonable and fair trade.
        Jose and I talked about the Middle East. There's no question that
    the Israeli-Palestinian issue is on a lot of people's minds. We are
    dedicated to a two-state solution, two democracies living side by side
    in peace. And we talked about ways that we need to work together to see
    if we can't bring that vision to fruition.
        We're going to talk about Darfur here at lunch. I know that Jose is
    as committed as I am to helping solve what I've called a genocide. It is
    outrageous that people are being treated the way they are, and I'm
    confident Europe and the United States can work with other friends and
    allies around the world to help solve that difficult problem.
        We talked about Iran. We talked about Syria. We talked about Iraq.
    We talked about a lot of issues. We also talked about the importance of
    energy independence and, at the same time, being wise stewards of the
    environment. We are very hopeful that the use of technologies and good
    policy will help us diversify our energy supplies and be able to assure
    future generations that the environment of the world will be better off.
        And so I thought it was a constructive dialog. Glad to have you
    back.
        President Durao Barroso. Thank you very much, George. It was,
    indeed, a pleasure to meet again, President Bush. We have now these very
    regular meetings, and it's always a great occasion to exchange views on
    such important subjects.
        In fact, we have considered bilateral and global issues. On
    bilateral, I underlined the importance we give to further--to make go
    further, go faster, to go deeper in our economic transatlantic
    partnership. This is the most important economic relation in the world,
    the relation between the United States of America and the European
    Union. And we believe we can achieve more if we look at it in a
    comprehensive manner. And I hope that now there will be some concrete
    work so that in our regular institutional summit, between the European
    Union and the United States, we can achieve some more complete results.
        Of course, the most crucial factor is the succession--successful
    negotiations for Doha. Doha is not just about trade; it's also about
    development; it's about having a multilateral approach to trade. There
    is now the defining moment. We are really at defining moment, and we had
    a very good exchange, and we gave instructions to all negotiators to
    come with a solution as soon as possible. And of course it is important
    to engage also others, because this is a real global agreement that we
    are trying to build. And it will be a very important signal for the
    world community if we show that it is possible to have a global approach
    to trade and development.

    [[Page 14]]

        Another global issue, but where United States and Europe have a very
    good--and we hope to improve relation and dialog--is precisely energy
    and climate. When we speak about climate change, it's not just about the
    environment--of course environment is crucially important--but it is
    also about global security. It's also about economic development and
    sustainability.
        And so we are hoping to deepen our dialog on climate change, on
    technologies, on curbing emissions, on progress in terms of energy
    efficiency and in security. Of course, the key is diversification--
    diversification in all aspects, and we believe the work going on between
    our respective experts is a good signal of the commitment of our joint
    commitment to fight climate change, and also to have a more common
    approach to the problems of global security regarding energy.
        We will, of course, consider other issues in the working lunch we're
    going to have. President Bush spoke about Darfur. I've been in Darfur
    recently. I can tell that's really a tragedy, what's going on, and we
    cannot accept that tragedy going on without a firm, united response of
    the international community.
        So, once again, it was a pleasure meeting President Bush in the
    White House. I'm very much looking forward to other occasions where we
    can show to the world that this relation--the relation between Europe
    and the United States of America is, indeed, more important than ever.
        President Bush. Thanks, Jose. Thank you. Appreciate it.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:09 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish
    language transcript of these remarks.