"On the job, I have learned a lot," Guenter Verheugen, EU co-chair of the Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC), told Europolitics Environment at the end of a somewhat strained EU-US economic ministerial in Washington, on 12 December. Contrasting regulatory cultures remain deeply embedded in the EU and US, with "the precautionary principle dear to the Europeans," while Americans prefer "a risk-based approach, with risk identified by scientific evidence". This, at least, was the EU enterprise and industry commissioner's explanation as to why no progress was made in resolving a 12-year dispute over the EU's ban on American poultry, justified because US chickens are washed in chlorine instead of water.
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