Brussels, 16 May 2022
The EU and the US have today reaffirmed their close cooperation to address global trade and technology challenges in line with their shared commitment to democracy, freedom and human rights. Meeting at the second Ministerial Meeting of the Trade and Technology Council (TTC) in Paris, both parties reiterated the central role of the TTC for the renewed transatlantic partnership, which has already served to coordinate joint measures being taken by the EU and the US in face of the Russian aggression against Ukraine.
Members of the College said:
Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for a Europe fit for the Digital Age and co-chair of the TTC, said:
“Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has further underlined the key importance of our cooperation with the US on economic and technology issues. This cooperation goes beyond our reaction to the war. Together with our transatlantic partners, we can create a positive vision for our economies and for a democratic governance of the internet based on the dignity and integrity of the individual. When we act together, we can set the standards of tomorrow’s economy. We are joining forces and when two such determined partners take the lead, we can enable the tides to turn.”
Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President and Commissioner for Trade and co-chair of the TTC, said:
“I am delighted that at this second TTC meeting, we have agreed to expand our cooperation with the US to address new and emerging global trade challenges, working as trusted partners. We will work closely to secure our supply chains and boost global food security. We will build on our unprecedented transatlantic coordination on export controls against Russia to further align our approaches in this critical field, while also boosting trade with Ukraine. We will also cooperate on promoting green trade, for instance through green public procurement.”
Thierry Breton, Commissioner for Internal Market, added:
“Transatlantic collaboration on supply chains and digital technologies is crucial to defend our common interests and values. Having successfully worked with the United States on supply chain bottlenecks for vaccine ingredients, I am pleased to see a joint ambition to strengthen supply chain resilience in other areas, from raw materials to semiconductors. The Paris summit is an important moment for the Trade and Technology Council to transform the transatlantic dialogue into concrete results.”
Key outcomes of the 2nd TTC Ministerial Meeting:
Support to Ukraine
The TTC’s co-chairs expressed strong shared commitment to supporting Ukraine against Russian military aggression and agreed on concrete measures already delivered and to be further continued within the TTC. They also committed to work jointly with Ukraine to rebuild its economy and facilitate trade and investment.
Information integrity
They agreed to strengthen their cooperation to support information integrity in crisis situations, initially focusing on a common analytical framework for identifying Russia’s information manipulation and interference, which will lead to establishing a Cooperation Framework in all crisis situations.
Trade and Labour Dialogue
The co-chairs agreed to establish a tripartite Trade and Labour Dialogue in order to jointly promote internationally recognised labour rights, including the eradication of forced labour and child labour.
Export controls
Cooperation in the TTC has been instrumental for the swift and aligned deployment of export controls on advanced technologies such as aerospace and cyber surveillance to undermine Russia’s ability to further develop its industrial and military capabilities. Both parties committed to build on and enhance this strong collaboration.
Secure supply chains
With global supply chains further challenged by the Russian aggression against Ukraine, both parties agreed that close cooperation to advance the resilience of supply chains is more important than ever. For instance, the EU and US have agreed to develop a common early warning and monitoring mechanism on semiconductor value chains, to increase awareness of and preparedness for supply disruptions, and information exchange to avoid a subsidy race.
A dedicated taskforce on public financing for secure and resilient digital infrastructure in third countries shall also pave the way to joint US-EU public financing of digital projects in third-countries, based on a set of common overarching principles.
Technology standards
In the field of emerging technologies, the EU and the US have agreed to establish a Strategic Standardisation Information (SSI) mechanism to promote and defend common interests in international standardisation activities. Both sides will work to foster the development of aligned and interoperable technical standards in areas of shared strategic interest such as AI, additive manufacturing, recycling of materials, or Internet of Things
Artificial Intelligence
Both parties further discussed the implementation of common AI principles and agreed to develop a joint roadmap on evaluation and measurement tools for trustworthy AI and risk management.
Platform governance
The EU and the US also reaffirmed their support for an open, global, interoperable, reliable and secure Internet, in line with the Declaration for the Future of the Internet and the declaration on European digital rights and principles. Moreover, the EU and US agreed to strengthen cooperation on key aspects of platform governance.
SMEs access to technology
The EU and US published today a joint best practice guide with resources for how SMEs can become more cybersecure.
Environmental and climate aspects of trade and technology
Promoting sustainability is an overarching ambition for the TTC. In that spirit, Ministers agreed to work on trade and environment/climate issues, including on fostering a better understanding of the role that trade can play in facilitating the dissemination of environmental goods and services; a closer cooperation on green public procurement and work on common methodologies for carbon footprinting.
Trade barriers
Ministers agreed to work together on solutions that will help increase transatlantic trade and investment, including through increased cooperation on government procurement and conformity assessment, and exchanges on potential new trade barriers both bilaterally and in relation to third countries. They also agreed to coordinate their efforts to address non-market policies, while seeking to avoid collateral consequences on one another.
Background
The European Union and the United States announced the EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC) at their summit in Brussels on 15 June 2021. The TTC serves as a forum for the EU and the US to coordinate approaches to address key trade and technology issues, and to deepen transatlantic cooperation in this realm based on shared democratic values. The inaugural meeting of the TTC took place on 29 September 2021. Following the meeting, 10 working groups were set up covering issues such as standards, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, export controls and global trade challenges. The next meeting of the TTC is planned in before the end of 2022 in the United States.
More information and reactions – >
- TTC Paris-Saclay Joint Statement
- TTC Fact Hub
- TTC Paris-Saclay Cover Factsheet
- TTC Paris-Saclay Detailed Factsheet
Previous TTC meetings and useful links
- EU and US Launch TTC Press Release
- TTC Inaugural Meeting Factsheet
- TTC Inaugural Joint Statement
- TTC Futurium Platform
- EU-US Trade Relations Background Information
Joint Statement by President von der Leyen and President Biden on the meeting of the Trade and Technology Council
Brussels, 16 May 2022
At our June 2021 US-EU Summit, we established the US-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) to shape the rules of the road for a 21st century economy, and for rapidly evolving digital and emerging technology. In less than a year, the TTC has become a pillar of transatlantic cooperation, particularly in growing our bilateral trade and investment relationship; resolving existing and avoiding new barriers to trade while countering non-market, trade distortive practices; and in our united response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
Following its first ministerial meeting last September in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the TTC held its second ministerial meeting in Saclay, France. The US co-chairs, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, and United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai and EU Co-Chairs European Commission Executive Vice Presidents Margrethe Vestager and Valdis Dombrovskis built on the rock-solid foundation and announced new initiatives on supply chains, food security, export controls, emerging technology, digital infrastructure, trade, and much more. These initiatives will reinforce our shared values, bolster our global competitiveness, and benefit workers and families on both sides of the Atlantic. We are grateful to the leadership of the TTC and look forward to further progress in the months ahead.
For multilateralism, not blockbuilding: Bernd Lange on Trade and Tech Council
“The EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC) has proven to be an extremely useful platform for dialogue and information exchange since its launch in September 2021. The meeting has played a key role in coordinating the EU and US responses to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, for example, on export controls, when both sides agreed on restrictive measures against Russia in record time. We will also now launch a dialogue to strengthen the resilience of global food production. This kind of action is exactly what the Council is meant for, not trade negotiations.
“I also welcome progress on tackling disruptions in semiconductor supply chains via the common early warning and monitoring mechanism, as well as the commitment to exchange on incentives granted to the sector. This will certainly help avoid a subsidy race and help us develop complementary approaches. Still though, the US and EU should not revert to a mercantilist approach and attempt to produce everything in their own country or association of countries. This is not only unrealistic, but is also not in the EU’s interest, as we are highly dependent on open and fair trade.
“Finally, I am particularly pleased to see that the EU and US underline their support for multilateral trade and WTO reform, and will be working together on sustainable supply chains and increasing respect for workers’ rights globally. These are excellent examples of the kind of positive agenda we need. The TTC should be there to give a new impetus to multilateral and fair trade and should not be used for building trade blocs.”
Background
The EU-US Trade and Technology Council was set up in June 2021 to strengthen cooperation between the EU and the United States in trade, technology and standards, based on shared democratic values. Its inaugural meeting took place on 29 September 2021 in Pittsburgh, US. Its work is done via ten working groups including on technology standards, global trade challenges, climate and green tech, supply chains and data governance.
Parliament called for stronger EU-US partnership in the Trade and Technology Council (TTC) in a resolution in October 2021.
Further information
EU-US Trade and Technology Council: cooperation is a necessity
MAY 16, 2022
The pandemic and events in Ukraine remind us that the partnership between the EU and the US is fundamental and should continue to intensify, both in depth and scope. In uncertain times and in an unstable world, such a partnership is an important building block for our shared prosperity. Renew Europe therefore welcomes the outcome of the second EU-U.S Trade and Technology Council (TTC) which started on Sunday and finished today.
The COVID—19 pandemic and the unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression of Russia against Ukraine have colossal social and economic consequences. Supply chains are heavily affected, such as those for semiconductors, critical minerals and clean energy. Renew Europe considers that the EU and the US should cooperate to mitigate risks and improve their resilience.
As a strong believer in the transatlantic partnership, Renew Europe salutes the will of both partners to collaborate closely on various issues. An inclusive Trade and Technology Council must be a central pillar of our Transatlantic relations. Resolving and preventing trade irritants should be our permanent objective, as well as the defence of, and further development of, the multilateral rules-based order and achieving high environmental, labour and human rights standards. In this respect, Renew Europe supports the establishment of a tripartite Trade and Labour Dialogue within the TTC to work on solutions to promote labour rights and fight against forced labour. Renew Europe also welcomes the EU and US commitment to increase the cooperation in the area of green public procurement.
Catharina Rinzema (VVD, Netherlands), Renew Europe standing shadow rapporteur for EU-US trade relations in the committee on International trade, declared: “In this unstable world, the EU and the US should be the pillar of stability. We should solve shortages such as in semiconductors, set the new standards for the digital transformation, and form a united block against the actions of authoritarian states. Democratic and liberal values should prevail, and I call upon both sides to push for this in our global trade relations and digital transformation.”
Dragoş Tudorache (USR+, Romania), Renew Europe standing shadow rapporteur for EU-US relations in the committee on Foreign Affairs, added: “The rules of the digital future are yet to be written. The EU and the U.S. need to spearhead a global alliance of tech democracies that proactively and diligently shapes that future according to our values: democracy, fundamental rights, and the rule of law. The TTC can become a pillar of this alliance, a forum for the EU and the U.S. to coordinate on everything from export controls vis-à-vis authoritarian regimes to supply chain security, standards for new and emerging technologies, joint positions in international standardization fora, and rules governing technologies such as artificial intelligence. We can no longer afford to let others write these rules. For this, we need to give strategic priority to the work of the TTC and to strengthen it with an inter-parliamentary dimension.”
BDI zum EU-US-Handels- und Technologierat: Starkes Signal für neuen transatlantischen Schulterschluss
Zum Abschluss des zweiten Treffens des EU-US-Handels- und Technologierats äußert sich Siegfried Russwurm, BDI-Präsident und Vorsitzender der Transatlantic Business Initiative (TBI):
- „Der EU-US-Handels- und Technologierat sendet das dringend benötigte starke Signal für einen neuen transatlantischen Schulterschluss. Es ist aus Sicht der Wirtschaft erfreulich, dass Amerikaner und Europäer nicht zuletzt angesichts des russischen Angriffs auf die Ukraine so eng zusammenarbeiten wie seit Jahrzehnten nicht mehr, etwa in der gemeinsamen Sanktionspolitik.
- Der Angriff Russlands auf die Ukraine hat den Blick auf gefährliche Abhängigkeiten in den Lieferketten noch einmal geschärft. Um ihre wirtschaftlichen Ziele und ihre Klimaziele erreichen zu können, müssen sowohl die EU als auch die USA ihre Abhängigkeiten von einzelnen Ländern beispielsweise bei Seltenerdmagneten und in der Solar-Lieferkette dringend reduzieren.
- Wir begrüßen, dass sich die US-Administration und die EU-Kommission klar gegen einen Subventionswettlauf in der Halbleiterproduktion ausgesprochen haben. Die geplante Einrichtung eines Frühwarnsystems bei der Halbleiterversorgung muss genau geprüft werden. Für ein realistisches Lagebild und zur Simulation möglicher künftiger Engpässe braucht es die enge Einbindung von Experten aus der Industrie.
- Mit der angekündigten engeren Zusammenarbeit im Bereich Standardisierung werden die transatlantischen Partner ihre Resilienz gegenüber systemischen Wettbewerbern deutlich erhöhen. Die EU und die USA müssen sich auf die gemeinsame Erarbeitung internationaler Normen und deren anschließende Übernahme durch die internationalen Normungsgremien fokussieren, insbesondere im Bereich der kritischen und innovativen Technologien.
- Dem Bekenntnis der transatlantischen Partner, bilaterale Handelsbarrieren zu reduzieren und verbleibende Differenzen lösen zu wollen, sollten rasch Taten folgen. Die noch existierenden US-Handelsbeschränkungen bei Stahl und Aluminium müssen endlich abgeschafft werden. Es sollte endgültig klar sein, dass Importe aus der EU nicht die nationale Sicherheit der USA gefährden.“