The White House Blog

Today, President Obama is in Northern Ireland for the G-8 Summit in Lough Erne. This year's G-8 is President Obama's fifth since taking office, and the second stop of his three-day trip to Northern Ireland and Germany.

President Barack Obama participates in a G8 Summit meeting on Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership in the Library at Lough Erne Resort in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, June 17, 2013. Participating in the meeting are, clockwise from President Obama: Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom; Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany; President François Hollande of France; Prime Minister Enrico Letta of Italy; Taoiseach Enda Kenny of Ireland: José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission; and Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Yesterday, following the first stop of the trip in Belfast, the President held a number of meetings with world leaders ahead of the G-8, including a visit with U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron and a meeting with EU leaders on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.

President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron talk at the G8 Summit in Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, June 17, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Together with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, President Obama announced that the United States and the European Union would launch negotiations on the trade agreement in July. The partnership will boost economic growth in the United States and the EU, as President Obama explained.

[T]he U.S.-EU relationship is the largest in the world. It makes up nearly half of global GDP. We trade about $1 trillion in goods and services each year. We invest nearly $4 trillion in each other’s economies. And all that supports around 13 million jobs on both sides of the Atlantic. 

And this potentially groundbreaking partnership would deepen those ties. It would increase exports, decrease barriers to trade and investment. As part of broader growth strategies in both our economies, it would support hundreds of thousands of jobs on both sides of the ocean.

Read more about the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

President Barack Obama greets Italy Prime Minister Enrico Letta at the G8 Summit in Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, June 17, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

To mark the official start of the G-8 yesterday afternoon, President Obama participated in an arrival ceremony with other G-8 leaders, and attended the first plenary session. During their meeting, leaders discussed the global economy, and President Obama announced increased humanitarian assistance for Syria. Later in the evening, the President held a bilateral meeting with President Vladmir Putin of Russia, and took part in a working dinner with G-8 leaders. 

President Barack Obama meets with Russian President Vladmir Putin during a bilateral at the G8 Summit in Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, June 17, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Today, President Obama participated in three more plenary sessions, a working lunch, and a smaller meeting with with Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, President François Hollande of France, Prime Minister Enrico Letta of Italy and Prime Minister Ali Zeidan of Libya.

President Barack Obama talks with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto as they head to lunch with G8 leaders and other world leader guests at the G8 Summit in Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, June 18, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Before departing for Berlin, the final stop of the trip, President Obama held a bilateral meeting with President Hollande of France.

President Barack Obama holds a bilateral meeting with French President Francois Hollande at the G8 Summit in Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, June 18, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

For more information:

• Learn more about the President's trip to Northern Ireland and Germany
• See the joint statements released by the United States and Russia
• See the statement from G-8 leaders on the global economy
• Fact Sheet: Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership
• Fact Sheet: President Obama Increases Humanitarian Assistance to Syrians
• Read the Lough Erne Declaration
• Read the G-8 Leaders Communique