The European Commission and the U.S. government will from now on be able to exchange confidential information about the safety of cosmetics and medical devices. The European Commission and U.S. Food and Drug Administration agreed confidentiality arrangements at a bilateral meeting in Brussels, enabling better health protection and easier trade between EU and U.S. Closer economic cooperation is the main aim of the new Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC). The TEC's work program covers cooperation initiatives to harmonize standards and improve trade in the areas of Regulatory Cooperation, Intellectual Property Rights, Secure Trade, Financial Markets, Innovation and Technology and Investment.
[European Commission Press Release]

The European Commission welcomes the report adopted by the European Parliament on the European Commission's Communication on 'Halting the Loss of Biodiversity by 2010 – and Beyond: Sustaining Ecosystem Services for Human Well-being'. The European Commission shares the European Parliament's strong concern at financial constraints to implementation and at the continuing loss of biodiversity and related decline of ecosystem services. It supports Parliament's position that the maintenance of ecosystem services should become a fundamental goal of all EU horizontal and sectoral policies.
[European Commission Press Release]