- The EU’s surveillance framework should include employment and social aspects, in addition to those of general economic and financial nature. Article 148 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) should therefore be added as a legal base in the preventive part of the surveillance framework, and the relevant Regulation should address the prevention and correction of macroeconomic as well as of social imbalances on an equal basis. This way, a more integrated economic and social approach will be ensured.

L. whereas the EU and the US, as major world donors of development aid and important trade partners within bilateral and multilateral negotiations, have the necessary weight and should act responsibly to develop and use instruments which favour socially fair and environmentally sound trade rules such as the concept of qualified market access as suggested by the European Parliament,

* A strong interest in the establishment of a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory legal framework in Iraq. Predictability and legal certainty are preconditions for the very substantive investments required in the country, not least in the energy sector. Given Iraq's significant contribution to the Union's security of energy supply and the potential for the EU and Iraq to mutually benefit from increased Iraqi production of oil and natural gas, a level playing field for investment and regulatory convergence in the energy sector is of strong interest to both the EU and Iraq.

* A strong interest in the establishment of a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory legal framework in Iraq. Predictability and legal certainty are preconditions for the very substantive investments required in the country, not least in the energy sector. Given Iraq's significant contribution to the Union's security of energy supply and the potential for the EU and Iraq to mutually benefit from increased Iraqi production of oil and natural gas, a level playing field for investment and regulatory convergence in the energy sector is of strong interest to both the EU and Iraq.

These arrangements form the basis for a legal framework in the form of a decision by the Commission exercising its powers under Article 25 paragraph 6 of Directive 95/46/EC combined with an international agreement authorising the airlines to treat the US requirements as legal requirements in the EU [5] and binding the US to grant reciprocity and ensure "due process" for EU citizens.

Moreover, the objectives of the European Union set at Tampere and fleshed out in the Council conclusions of 14 October 2002 are fair treatment for third-country nationals residing legally and harmonisation of their legal status on that of Member-State nationals in terms of both rights and obligations.