Merkel mulling German push for EU-US trade zone

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Berlin, Nov 22: Chancellor Angela Merkel is considering pushing for a transatlantic free trade zone when Germany takes on the European Union presidency next year. The idea could gain momentum when Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) votes on it next week.

Despite scepticism in some European capitals, the vote at a CDU party congress in Dresden may trigger a new drive by Berlin for a notion long cherished by some conservatives keen to improve relations with Washington. “We want to start considering a common market between Europe and America,” Merkel told Bild newspaper on Wednesday. “A crucial point would be financial market regulation which could be more closely harmonised,” she said.

Germany has an opportunity to push its agenda when it takes over the rotating presidencies of what will then be a 27-nation EU and the Group of Eight (G8) industrialised nations in January.

Leading CDU politician Matthias Wissmann says the idea, of which he has long been an advocate, is gaining momentum.

“I expect the conference to pass it and if Angela Merkel gives it impetus, it could be positively received in the United States,” Wissmann told Reuters. The motion calls for a transatlantic partnership deal including a consultation mechanism in foreign and security policy and the creation of a transatlantic market.

Wissmann stresses the benefits of harmonising regulatory frameworks and wants a transatlantic market to be completed by 2015 and a financial services and capital markets deal by 2010. He says trade exchanges amount to one billion euros a day and greater economic integration and lower market access barriers could boost per capita GDP in the EU by 2-3.5% and by 1-3% in the United States. Merkel is unlikely to make the idea a top priority but she does seem set to initiate a debate on the subject which could feature at an EU-US summit planned for April, officials say. Senior figures in Brussels, who in the past have expressed scepticism, are keeping an open mind.