US and EU agree 'single market'

[NashVegas]

Source: BBC

The United States and the European Union have signed up to a new transatlantic economic partnership at a summit in Washington.

The pact is designed to boost trade and investment by harmonising regulatory standards, laying the basis for a US-EU single market.

The two sides also signed an Open Skies deal, designed to reduce fares and boost traffic on transatlantic flights.

..

The two sides agreed to set up an "economic council" to push ahead with regulatory convergence in nearly 40 areas, including intellectual property, financial services, business takeovers and the motor industry.

Here we go ...

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6607757.stm

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Also, here's another source (the BBC skirts the 12 hour rules, barely).

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/01/america/NA-GEN-US-EU-Summit.php

[soothsayer]

1. Wow! here comes the NWO. Do we have to adopt the 'no OTC vitamins'

like those EU jerks?

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

2. What gibberish is this?

OTC vitamins are freely available in the EU.

[TechBear_Seattle]

9. Unlike in the US, you can not make unsubstantiated medical claims about vitamins in Europe

If someone in Europe were to claim that consuming very high doses of vitamin E were to ward off cancer, they had better have significant research to back up those claims, or face stiff penalties or even jail time. Not so in the United States: you can many any claim you want with regards to "nutritional suppliments."

[NashVegas]

3. Tell Me About It

And it's amazingly quiet in the US press.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Tell me about it too

since 'no OTC vitamins' is a lie. It's been shown to be false so many times that I think any repetition of it now counts as a lie.

Vitamins from Asda, Boot's, Holland & Barrett, and there's loads more.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

11. Look, just because you live there...

...doesn't mean you know what you're talking about. I read about this on the internet. That means it must be true. :crazy:

[katty]

13. yes, it is, this quite a NWOesque development

[Cobalt Violet]

10. I was hoping it meant we could start buying codeine OTC. n/t

[kaygore]

16. You are correct. This is a real potential problem that has been well documented

[On the Road]

5. This Might Not be a Bad Idea

a WTO-like agreement with all those labor and environmental controls already in place. In fact, the US would plays the part of the third-world country in this agreement with cheaper labor and a depressed currency.

[C_eh_N_eh_D_eh]

6. Depends on what they mean by "convergence".

I suspect the US delegates will simply try to make everyone switch over to doing everything the American way, and give preferential treatment to US corporations. Nobody in Europe would stand for it, of course, but that won't stop them from not caring.

[AngryAmish]

7. Maybe get rid of the stupid barriers against Spanish hams

[One_Life_To_Give]

8. Metric Only Directive won't be postponed again?

I guess this means the Europeans won't be making any more postponements of their Metric Only Directive. Making us of any other system of units in Marking/Labeling and manuals illegal.

Many product standards have already been harmonized to one degree or another. (Information Technology Equipment, Medical and Dental Equipment, etc.) The bigest difference I see is that Europe regulates what can be placed on the market. The US regulates what can be installed/used.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

12. Now, if we can only make a dollar worth a Euro.

:cry:

[roamer65]

14. We couldn't adopt the Euro, even if we wanted.

Our budget deficit is way over what the Stability and Growth Pact allows. We couldn't even get into the ERM because our finances are just that bad.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stability_and_Growth_Pact

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Exchange_Rate_Mechanism

[ohio2007]

15. Eu can't even agree among their own member nations

Why do they want to impose restrictions on the US ?