US and Europe urged to draw closer

THE world’s two largest trading blocs, the United States and Europe, will be urged at their summit meeting in Co Clare on Saturday to work towards eventually creating a barrier free transatlantic market.

Chief executives of companies that collectively employ two million people in America, Europe and globally will recommend the ambitious move in a report to the summit which President George W Bush and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, European Council president, will attend.

The top executives, members of the TransAtlantic Business Dialogue (TABD), maintain that the continued strong partnership between Europe and the US is a precondition for future global economic prosperity.