A good first step, but more needs to come, says the Chair of the European Parliament Committee on International Trade.
Statement by the Chair of the European Parliament Committee on International Trade Bernd Lange (S&D, DE).
„I’m pleased to see that this platform is up and running about three months after it was agreed at the EU-US summit in June. I also applaud the fact that it took place in Pittsburgh (US) which has successfully transformed to a tech hub and is at the centre of cutting edge industry. It shows the commitment on both sides of the Atlantic to put workers at the centre of trade and to invest in them to take part in the new economy. The involvement of stakeholders such as unions is positive as we need to have everyone on board.
Each of the ten working groups now has concrete themes to work on and we now have institutionalised platforms to exchange information on very specific issues such as addressing the challenges in international trade and cooperating on labour rights and trade-related climate policies in the Global Trade Challenges Working Group.
However, different interests remain and some trade irritations persist. For example, the talks between the Executive Vice-President (EVP) Dombrovskis and his US counterparts have not yet led to a solution for the so-called “232 tariffs” on steel and aluminum. These talks have to respect the different positions and should be built on mutual trust and lead to concrete results for the benefit of sustainable development and the people. So this inaugural meeting of the Trade and Technology Council (TTC) is a good first step, but more needs to come.
Now the challenge is to keep everyone on their feet. I hope that technical work will continue soon and that we will have another TTC’s meeting in the first half of next year. Also within the European Parliament we are keeping a close eye on the developments. The INTA Monitoring Group on the USA is continuously scrutinizing the process and we have invited EVP Dombrovskis to discuss the state of play on 26 October at INTA Committee’s meeting.“
MEP contact
Office of Mr Bernd Lange, Chair of the Committee on International Trade, tel. +32 2 284 55 55, e-mail: bernd.lange@europarl.europa.eu
Further information
- Committee on International Trade
- EU-US Trade and Technology Council Inaugural Joint Statement, 29.09.2021
- EPRS: EU-US Trade and Technology Council: New forum for transatlantic cooperation, 27.09.2021