By Martin Banks - 4th March 2009
British centre-right deputy Jonathan Evans says that a strong transatlantic relationship is "more needed" than ever before.
Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Evans said that despite fears of protectionism in the current economic climate, he hopes that EU-US relations can be "renewed and strengthened."
"Europe and the EU remain at the heart of the world economy and economic links between the two are more needed nowadays than ever before," he said.
Evans, who chairs parliament's delegation to the US, was speaking at the publication of a book, entitled "the transatlantic economy 2009", an annual survey on jobs, trade and investment between the US and Europe.
Some argue that transatlantic relations are only just starting to recover from the fall-out of the US-led war on terror.
But Evans said, "The transatlantic relationship is deeply interlinked and we if are going to find a way out of the current economic crisis we had to do it together."
On Monday, he returned from Washington where he had meetings with US congressmen and women.
"I tried to explain to them what the EU is all about but I admit that sometimes it can be hard work getting members of congress to understand the importance of engaging with Europe, not least at a time when we face increasing threats of protectionism."
"The fact is that there too few free traders in congress these days."
Even so, the book, he said, highlights the "crucial" relationship between Europe and America.
It said that despite stories about European firms moving to cheap labour markets in eastern Europe or Asia most foreigners working for European companies outside the EU are American.
Europe, it adds, is "far and away" the most important R&D destination for US companies.
The book's authors, Daniel Hamilton and Joseph Quinlan said that the transatlantic economy had fallen into "the deepest" recession since WW2.
"Never before have Europeans and Americans had a greater stake in each other's economic success," they write.
Have your say...
Please enter your comments below.