Climate was the most important issue during Tuesday's summit between the European Union and the United States. Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, representing the EU Presidency, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, met with U.S. President Barack Obama in the White House. The situation in Afghanistan, Iran and a new energy cooperation were also among the topics on the agenda.

Sweden's Deputy Prime Minister Maud Olofsson, Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and EU Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner also represented the EU side at the meeting.

President Obama began the press briefing following the summit by congratulating the EU on the finalization of the Lisbon Treaty.
"It will further move Europe in the direction of integration not only on economic policy but also on a number of security issues," he said.

Climate issues

"The meeting was mainly a climate summit where we discussed how to bring about an agreement in Copenhagen. We have shown our political will and understand each others political processes. Now we will help drive those processes forward," said Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt after the meeting. He continued:
"We need a global agreement in Copenhagen which meets the two degree goal and presents a solution for climate financing."

President Obama also took up the importance of making progress on climate issues at a press briefing following the meeting.

"It is imperative for us to redouble our efforts in the weeks between now and the Copenhagen meeting to assure that we create a framework for progress in dealing with what is a potential ecologic disaster."

Afghanistan and Iran

The U.S. and the EU cooperation in Afghanistan was discussed at the meeting. The EU has 35.000 troops in the country, and spends more than one billion dollars each year in Afghanistan.
"We want a close strategic cooperation with the U.S," declared Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt.

European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, after the meeting, brought up how important relations with the U.S.are to improving the situation in Afghanistan.

Regarding Iran, Prime Minister Reinfeldt mentioned that the EU and the U.S. share the international community's concern about the country, not the least the country's nuclear power. President Obama also commented on Iran.
"We want Iran to accept their responsibility," the President stated.

Several decisions were made during the meeting

A series of decisions were taken at the meeting. One of them involved the establishment of a new energy cooperation between the EU and the U.S. and the creation of a new Energy Council. The goal is to develop cooperation in areas such as environmental and energy technology research and the deployment of environmentally friendly technology. Already on Wednesday, November 4th, the Energy Council will meet for the first time.

A decision was also made to create a working group to look into antimicrobial resistance. The EU and the World Health Organization list the rapid development of antimicrobial resistance as one of the three greatest threats to human health. Together the EU and the U.S. have good possibilities to effectively handle the issue through research and development.

A decision on a new disarmament and non-proliferation agreement between the EU and the U.S. was also made. The last one was from 2005. The renewed declaration focuses more on disarmament than the previous did, and does not contain general terrorism issues.

In the document to the right you will find information about all the decisions which were made at the summit.