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Joint Statement by President Bush and President Charles Haughey of the European Council

February 27, 1990

We meet at a time of historic international change. Our discussions focused on U.S./E.C. relations and their future evolution, in the context of close transatlantic cooperation and of the E.C.'s increasingly important role on the international political and economic scene.

Today's meeting took place against the background of U.S. interest in enhancing its relations with the European Community as outlined in President Bush's speech last May and Secretary of State Baker's speech in Berlin in December. The President of the European Council expressed the Community's appreciation of the positive attitude of the U.S. administration to the Community's role and development. He also emphasized that the Community and its Member States share the U.S. interest in developing our relations.

We agreed on the significance of our meeting for strengthening relations between the U.S. and the E.C. We also agreed that such meetings between the President of the United States and the President of the European Council should become a regular feature of U.S./E.C. relations and that at least one such meeting should be held during each Presidency of the European Council.

These meetings will serve to give overall political direction to the further development of consultation and cooperation.

The arrangements will also include twice-yearly meetings between EC Foreign Ministers and the U.S. Secretary of State. We agreed that such a meeting should take place in the first half of 1990.

We see the arrangements discussed today as important first steps in an evolving process towards a new framework for enhanced political and economic ties between the E.C. and the U.S.

We both agreed that areas of common interest meriting further examination as subjects for practical cooperation should be identified. At this stage, we agreed that the fight against international drug trafficking and the international movement of drug funds are areas appropriate for specific cooperation. The same is true of our continuing efforts to protect the environment in areas such as global climate change, the depletion of the ozone layer, and endangered species. We agreed that there will be further contact at the appropriate levels to follow up our discussions on these areas and to identify other areas of common interest.

At our meeting, we also reviewed developments in Central and Eastern Europe, in particular the implications of German unification. We also discussed the CSCE, and the progress towards and prospects for European integration. We both agreed that, with their political ideals and common values, the U.S. and the E.C. have a pivotal role to play in overcoming the divisions between East and West and in laying the foundations for a Europe more united in its commitment to peace, prosperity, democracy, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. Our meeting today makes a valuable contribution to enhancing that pivotal role.

Note: The joint statement referred to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE).

George Bush, Joint Statement by President Bush and President Charles Haughey of the European Council Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/264376

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