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The Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC) is a body set up between the United States and European Union to direct economic cooperation between the two economies.
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Establishment and chairmanship
It was established by an agreement signed on 30 April 2007 at the White House by U.S. President George W. Bush, President of the European Council Angela Merkel (also German Chancellor) and EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso.
The Council is co-chaired by an EU and a U.S. official. Currently,they are: Caroline Atkinson, Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs; and Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner for Trade. It meets at least once a year, called by the chairs.
Work
The Council is tasked with helping to meet economic partnership objectives and harmonize regulations. Other priorities include: road safety, and petrol conservation, cosmetics testing (finding alternatives to animal testing), technologies, and more cooperation. However the Council has been criticised as getting bogged down in minor details and failing to produce results.
At a TEC meeting on 17 December 2010 in Washington, D.C., the leaders released a U.S.-EU Transatlantic Economic Council Joint Statement.