The United States and the European Union share the largest bilateral trade and
investment relationship in the world, accounting for over $1.5 trillion. In order to ensure that this critically important economic relationship
continues to thrive, President Bush and his EU counterparts established in 2002
the "Positive Economic Agenda" to advance bilateral cooperation to reduce trade
frictions and foster expanded transatlantic commerce. Recognizing that regulatory differences, not tariffs, comprise the most
significant remaining transatlantic trade barriers, President Bush and his EU
counterparts welcomed the U.S.-EU Regulatory Cooperation Roadmap. This Roadmap
builds on the 2002 U.S.-EU Guidelines for Regulatory Cooperation in which the
European Commission undertook to make its regulatory process more transparent.