In a meeting in Washington with the current Swedish Presidency of the European Union, US President Barack Obama said that as the world recovers from the economic recession that the US and EU should not slide toward protecting its favored industries as a solution against a continued downturn. Obama stressed the importance of close cooperation and avoiding protectionism between the US and EEU as their economies embark on a slow and painstaking recovery. During a White House meeting with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, Obama said the world economy had stabilized but that the road ahead would be difficult.
“It is absolutely critical that we continue to coordinate when it comes to our economic policies (and that) we continue to shy away from any protectionist measures,” Obama said. The 27-member EU is the largest trading partner of the United States. Obama emphasized the importance of cooperation on climate change while touting the need for the US and the EU to coordinate on economic policies that can help create jobs. Obama said the EU is “an important trading partner” for the U.S. While noting the world economy is starting to stabilize, Obama said that “it is absolutely critical” to coordinate on ways to ensure the United States and European Union are moving in a direction toward robust growth and creating more jobs. It’s also critical that “we continue to shy away from any protectionist measures,” he said.
Reinfeldt said the two leaders also discussed a way forward on tackling climate change, where the two sides remain at odds just six weeks before a critical UN climate conference in Copenhagen. “We need to work together. We need to find each other in the process,” Reinfeldt said of the stalled climate talks.
The US has come under pressure from the EU and other countries to commit to stiff curbs on its greenhouse-gas emissions. But the Obama administration has been reluctant to agree to a strong global climate treaty without the backing of Congress, where Obama’s fellow Democrats are struggling to pass a pollution-curbing bill.
The UN hopes governments will agree to a new treaty that can replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol when negotiators meet in Copenhagen in December. “Over half of the meeting was dedicated to the issue of climate change,” Reinfeldt said. “It is clear that Mr Obama has brought change to the USA and the beginnings of a policy for change when it comes to climate change. But only the EU is ready. This is like putting a man on the moon. There is a lot to be solved before we can get there and we don’t yet know exactly how we are going to achieve it. The EU’s promises are also conditional: we commit ourselves to climate financing and emissions reductions, but we require commitments from others,” he said.
Obama chimed in that, “We are approaching the Copenhagen negotiations. Both Sweden, the United States and the EU as a whole are interested in an outcome that can start moving us down the path of a sustainable economy that is not accelerating the potential catastrophe of climate change.”
The other major issue that was discussed at the meeting was the situation in Afghanistan. Obama said he had congratulated Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai on his fraudulent re-election.  “Although the election process was messy, I am pleased to say that the final outcome was determined in accordance with Afghan law. It is important first and foremost for the Afghan people that the results were in accordance with, and followed the rules laid down by, the Afghan constitution.”He said, however, he told Karzai that patience with his corruption-filled administration was running out, although no timetable was given for reforms to be implemented.