USA d. Trade Secretary Shapiro to EuroFora: Ambitious US-EU Agreement on the pipeline

*Strasbourg/EU Parliament/Angelo Marcopolo-An "ambitious" US-EU Agreement is an "option" for important, forthcoming Trans-Atlantic Inter-Parliamentary a.o. meetings at Washington DC before the end of 2012, in the framework of joint Euro-American efforts to boost Global Economic Growth, said to "EuroFora" the US. Deputy Trade Secretary Miriam Shapiro, at the conclusion of 2 Days-long bilateral contacts between reprtesentatives of the two partners in EU Parliament in Strasbourg.

 - Speaking shortly after the publication of OECD's 2012 Report on Global Growth, which Warned against curtrent risks for an excessive "Slowdown", Shapiro told "EuroFora" that te main point in her Strasbourg meetings is that, currently, "EU - USA Auhorities are in Cooperation for a Good, Permanent US-EU Trade" framework, "extending to all" possible tools currently "on the table", "....including the option of a Comprehensive and Ambitious Trade Agreement, that could help boost Growth and create more Jobs, on both sides", as she added.

+ In this regard, "a High Level Working Group" set up this year, is due to "issue its Report with Recommendations to the leaders", for concrete action soon, the US Deputy Trade Secretary also replied to a subsequent "EuroFora"s question on the "Timing" of foreseeable "Decisions".
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+ The Strasbourg meeting was actively attended also by the New Director of EU Parliament's Permament Representation to Washington DC (USA), Antoine Ripoll, who was intensively contacted on this occasion by several interested MEPs.

 - "It's a paradox that EU - USA Trade relations have not yet been formalised in a bilateral Trade Agreement, and the next meeting of EU - USA Joint InterParliamentary Delegation, on December 2012, in Wash.D.C. would help move on that issue, said to "EuroFora" Ripoll, who is scheduled to take over his New Duties at Washington D.C. "on November", i.e. during and immediately after the forthcoming US. Presidential Elections...

Meanwhile, the President of EU Parliament's Delegation for relations with the USA, German MEP Christian Ehler, from the Governing ChristianDemocrat/EPP party, led today a MEPs' discussion on the forthcoming, December 2012 meeting with US Congress' counterparts engaged in the "Trans-Atlantic Legislators Dialogue" (TLD), scheduled this time both at Washington and at Nashville, in the State of Tenessee.

Some MEPs expressed their surprise by the fact that Europe was almost absent, at least until now, in the current Debates between the two main Candidates for the November 2012 US Presidential Elections, Obama and Romney, while several other MEPs expressed the wish for a scheduled US - EU Debate on the Internet, to be extended not only to CyberCrime, but also to a much "larger scope of WWW issues",  and to include participants not only from Microsoft but even from other, f.ex. European IT Companies, etc.
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+ At a parallel, related development, New US Ambassador to Cyprus, current EU Council's rotating Chair for the period of July - December 2012, John Koening, presented his credentials to the President of the Country, Demetris Christofias, this same Day at Nicosia, just before an important EU Top-Level, Barroso - Christofias - Van Rompuy meeting in Brussels next week, scheduled for Wednesday, September 19, at Noon.

New Prospects for Energy cooperation, after the recent and still on-going Oil/Gas Exploration, with good initial Findings, at Cyprus' Exclusive Economic Zone, as well as in Israel's (and Lebanon's, etc.) SeaCoasts, were reportedly evoked on this occasion at the island.