OCEAN DRIVE
STYLE
The new Avalon Hotel puts the excitement of
Ocean Drive at your doorstep. Features
include complimentary breakfast, quilted
down comforters, unlimited WiFi and more.
There’s also our award winning restaurant, “A
Fish Called Avalon” offering local seafood
with a delicious tropical flare. Come, be part
of Ocean Drive at the Avalon.
700 Ocean Drive
Miami Beach, Florida
800-933-3306
www.southbeachhotels.com
LOCB EAA CTH FIROO NNT
At the South Seas Hotel, the vibrance of
South Beach surrounds you. Just one block
away is the Convention Center. Just two
blocks the shops & cafes of Lincoln Road.
On premise, enjoy guest rooms with quilted down comforters, complimentary breakfast buffet, unlimited WiFi, and for lunch or
dinner, our convenient poolside cafe & bar.
TRANSATLANTIC TIES THAT BIND their books according to both EU and
The American and European economies U.S. standards.
already are intertwined in ways that ex- From industry’s point of view, all this is
tend far beyond the exchange of goods a scandalous waste of time and money.
and services. Trade between the U.S. “America and Europe have very simi-
and the EU amounts to more than $500 lar economies and social structures. We
billion per year. As the Johns Hopkins have more or less the same standard of
study notes, that represents less than living, expectations for the environment,
20 percent of the $3 trillion transatlan- and energy requirements for our homes
tic commercial relationship, the rest of and cars,” says John Vassallo, director
which is made up of foreign investment. of European Affairs for
A long list of familiar General Electric and the
“American” brands, chair of the American
including Random Chamber of Commerce
House, Brooks to the EU, which lob-
Brothers and Motel bies for the interests
6, are actually owned of American-owned
by European parent business at the EU
companies. institutions in Brus-
This relationship sels, Belgium. “There’s
brings not only eco- no need for such heavy
nomic benefits but also indirect yet vital duplication of costs” in complying with
effects on international security, reinforc- regulation, he says.
ing the ties that take their military form in Getting rid of such duplication—either
NATO. During the bitter disagreements by developing common standards or agree-
over Iraq in 2002-03, diplomats on both ing to recognize each other’s standards—
sides of the Atlantic observed that the could boost combined GDP by as much
common economic interests of the U.S. as 3 percent, according to a study by the
and the EU were like ballast keeping the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
geopolitical relationship on an even keel. and Development. That would mean
Helping to foster this closeness has almost $800 billion more per year for the
been gradual economic integration, which two economies, which Vassallo says would
has lowered tariffs to their current level translate into more spending on develop-
of no more than 4 percent of transatlantic ment, more jobs, and lower costs for con-
trade. Yet, important indirect obstacles to sumers on both sides of the Atlantic.
trade and investment remain, most signifi- Regulatory convergence by the
cantly in the form of regulation. world’s two largest economies would not
only open the European and American
markets to each other’s industry but
also would facilitate sales to the rest of
the world. Common U.S.-EU standards
would become the de facto global norm,
leveling the regulatory playing field every-
where. In recent years, the EU has cam-
paigned to convince developing nations to
adopt its standards for boilers, electrical
equipment and thousands of other prod-
ucts. Transatlantic regulatory cooperation
would ensure that American producers
are not shut out of those markets.
American investment in
little Belgium (pop. 10. 4
million) was more than
four times that of U.S.
investment in China.
1751 Collins Avenue
Miami Beach, Florida
800-345-2678
STANDARDIZED TESTS
Technical standards for automobiles, for
instance, vary widely in many respects
between the U.S. and the EU, forcing
manufacturers to turn out bumpers, fenders, lights and other parts according to
two separate sets of specifications. Even
when standards are not substantially different, companies in a wide range of industries nevertheless have to go through
regulatory compliance twice because of
a lack of cooperation between the separate authorities. A factory in Wisconsin
that produces digital imaging equipment
for hospitals in France has to absorb the
cost of inspections by both American
and European regulators. Multinational
companies must pay accountants to do
TANGLED REGULATORY WEBS
On April 30, U.S. and EU leaders meeting
at the White House signed the Framework
for Advancing Transatlantic Economic
Integration. The agreement focuses on
