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Economy relies on strong relationship between Europe and US

By WEEK Producer
March 8, 2012 Updated Mar 8, 2012 at 11:47 PM CDT

PEORIA, Ill. -- Both the European Union and the United States both face a common issue of bringing debt under control while growing the economy.

EU Ambassador to the United States Joao Vale De Almeida said because of the trading relationship between Europe and the US, the success of one nation depends heavily on the other.

He said it is important to keep that relationship strong in order to compete in the world market, especially with emerging markets like China.

"This is the most important, bilateral, economic relationship in the world," said the ambassador. "Between the EU and US -- if you include Canada -- we have more than 50 percent of the world's GDP, one-third of world's trade, so this is an extremely vibrant and robust economic relationship. That goes, of course, down to every state, and including Illinois and including the region of Peoria"

The ambassador will be coming to Peoria on March 29 as part of his tour of the United States.

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