Skies to Open Over Atlantic

President George W. Bush, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso signed the trans-Atlantic economic partnership at an annual US-EU summit in Washington on Monday.

Cabinet officials also signed a landmark "open skies" agreement designed to allow every EU and US airline to fly between every city in the European Union and the United States starting March 30.

The agreement could bring up to 12 billion euros ($16.4 billion) in economic benefits, up to 80,000 new jobs on both sides and lower airfares, according to EU officials.

"This agreement provides air service with a reliable and modern set of regulations," German Transportation Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee said. "Both sides will benefit."

The deal notably ends restrictions at London's Heathrow airport, where US-British service has been limited to four airlines. However, the accord bars EU investors from buying shareholder control of US airlines.

Lowering economic hurdles

The broader economic partnership is meant to lower regulatory hurdles -- and costs for businesses and consumers in Europe and the US -- by promoting steps such as mutual recognition of accounting standards and rules governing securities markets, the EU said.

Cooperation is to focus first on the auto industry, medical services and pharmaceuticals.

"Our economic relation is by far the most important in the world," Barroso said after the EU-US summit, noting that US-EU trade totals 1.7 billion euros a day. "But we can work together more to make that relation even easier, and I believe there is some untapped potential."

The leaders also stressed their commitment to bringing the deadlocked world trade talks to a successful outcome.

"We told our trade ministers: Work hard, work often, work constructively," Bush said at a joint press conference. "I believe we can be successful."

Global warming needs "urgent" action

Bush, Merkel and Barroso agreed in Washington to define global warming as a serious problem requiring "urgent" action, but were deadlocked on what concrete remedies to apply.

"We are aware of the fact that we do have a problem here, that we need to solve this problem," Merkel, whose country holds the both the rotating EU and Group of Eight presidencies.

Barroso said that the US even agreeing to call global warming a problem was step in the right direction.

"I really welcome the fact that there was progress in this meeting," Barroso said. "We agree there's a threat, there's a very serious and global threat. We agree that there is a need to reduce emissions. We agree that we should work together."

The trans-Atlantic leaders said they had set up a US-EU conference on alternative-fuel standards to meet in Washington next year, and discussed plans to take up climate change at the June G8 summit in Germany.

The United States is responsible for 25 percent of the world's greenhouse gases. The EU makes up 14 percent of the globe's emissions.