BACKGROUND
Brussels, 14 June 2021
On Tuesday 15 June, the leaders of the EU and US will hold a summit in Brussels.
The EU will be represented by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. The US will be represented by President Joe Biden.
The discussions will be centred around four main pillars: ending the COVID-19 pandemic and driving forward a sustainable global economic recovery, protecting our planet and fostering growth, strengthening transatlantic trade, investment and technological cooperation, as well as addressing global and regional foreign policy and security challenges, strengthening democracy and the rules based multilateral order.
At the end of the meeting, leaders are expected to adopt a joint statement.
This is the first EU-US summit since 2014 and a visit of a US President to the EU institutions since 2017. It will provide an opportunity to renew the transatlantic partnership and to set a joint agenda for EU-US cooperation in the post-pandemic era.
Press conferences and public events by video streaming: http://video.consilium.europa.eu
Covid-19 pandemic and global economic recovery
Leaders will commit to stepping up efforts to ensure equitable and affordable access to COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostics and treatments. In this context, they will reiterate their support to the COVAX facility and encourage donors to make more doses available worldwide.
Leaders will also commit to strengthening global health security, pandemic preparedness, and response to health emergencies and future outbreaks, including by reforming the WHO.
Finally, they will commit to jointly drive forward a sustainable and inclusive global recovery, in line with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Climate Change
Leaders are expected to discuss a strengthening of their cooperation to tackle climate change, environmental degradation and biodiversity loss, promote green growth, protect oceans and to urge ambitious actions by all other major players.
As such, they will reaffirm their commitment to the Paris Agreement and its effective implementation. They will also reaffirm their intention to become climate neutral economies by 2050, and to engage international partners to achieve an ambitious outcome at COP26.
Trade, technology and innovation
Leaders will commit to grow the EU-US trade and investment relationship as well as to uphold and reform the rules-based multilateral trading system. Leaders are also expected to seek comprehensive and durable solutions to trade disputes and avoid burdening transatlantic trade.
Finally, they are expected to emphasize their commitment to work cooperatively on efforts to achieve meaningful WTO reform.
The digital transformation will also feature at this meeting; leaders will discuss cooperation plans on the development and deployment of new technologies based on shared democratic values. Leaders will also touch upon cooperation on AI, data flows, cybersecurity and other relevant topics.
Leaders will also discuss to strengthen cooperation on space, to engage on space-based Earth observation to support climate policies, and exchange on space traffic management.
Foreign and security policy
Leaders are expected to commit to working together to anchor democracy, peace and security around the world, to peacefully prevent and resolve conflicts, uphold the rule of law and international law, and to promote human rights and equality for all. In this context, leaders will call to reject authoritarianism in all its forms.
Leaders will also agree to enhance cooperation on the use of sanctions to pursue shared foreign policy and security objectives. They will explicitly outline their intentions to support democracy across the globe through a wide range of actions including defending media freedom, advancing a free and open internet, combatting corruption, tackling disinformation, protecting civil society and civic space and advancing women’s political empowerment. In addition, they will discuss plans to increase resilience against foreign information manipulation, coercion, hybrid threats, malicious cyber activities, terrorism and violent extremism, and other common security threats.
Reviving dialogue on migration, including solutions on effective and safe migration policy in cooperation with third countries, will be a topic of discussion among leaders.
Leaders will agree to closely consult and cooperate on China and Russia, and to further strengthen their joint engagement in a number of regions across the globe.
Finally, leaders will recognise the contribution of EU security and defence initiatives to both European and transatlantic security and reaffirm their support in raising their level of ambition to further strengthen their strategic partnership in the context of NATO.