Washington, 17 December 1996 (RFE/RL) - U.S. President Bill Clinton says the United States and the European Union agreed yesterday to speed up the reconstruction of Bosnia.
At a press conference in Washington today, Clinton said the United States and Europe agreed that the effort to rebuild the war-torn nation's civilian economy must move faster.
Clinton spoke after talks with European Commission president Jacques Santer and European Union president John Bruton, who is Prime Minister of Ireland.
U.S.-European cooperation in the economic reconstruction of Bosnia as well as the Middle East peace process were among the major political issues on the agenda. Clinton told reporters he had thanked the European leaders for taking the lead in financing Bosnia's economic reconstruction.
Clinton also reported progress today on an agreement to promote about $40 billion in trans-Atlantic trade. Clinton said he expects an agreement on common product standards to be completed next month. The result, he said, would be "cutting red tape" for manufacturers and cutting prices for consumers.