Brussels, BELGIUM — U.S. and EU leaders will meet in Brussels June 15 for the EU-US Summit. The agenda includes “COVID-19, climate, trade and investment, technology, foreign affairs, and common values.” The Summit statement is expected to announce a new U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council, which could help facilitate discussion on items such as artificial intelligence and supply chain security.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association’s transatlantic presence has consistently supported greater U.S.-EU cooperation. In April, CCIA released a set of recommendations on a relaunched transatlantic regulatory agenda. CCIA welcomes the EU-US Summit and the Trade and Technology Council. As democratic allies and close trading partners the EU and the U.S. must urgently address policy issues of increased contention, e.g., unilateral taxes, data flow restrictions and discriminatory industrial policies.
The following can be attributed to CCIA President Matthew Schruers:
“CCIA supports efforts to reset the transatlantic relationship to facilitate digital trade and forward-thinking, non-discriminatory regulatory frameworks for digital services. The U.S. and the EU should reengage on shared priorities in the tech space that will enable innovation and strengthen trust in digital services. It is important to level-set the EU-U.S. relationship, which represents one of the world’s largest bilateral trading relationships.”
“Crucial transatlantic policies issues need to be resolved holistically rather than treating digital policy as a zero-sum game. The goal should be rules that make sense regardless of the company, sector, or country, instead of gerrymandering rules to apply to others’ industries.
“The relationship and our economies will be jeopardized if we proceed with industrial policies targeting each others’ industries. As leading democratic economies we have an opportunity to ensure key technologies like AI are led by countries that have strong values of free speech and individual rights. A EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council could be an opportunity to cooperate on everything from data governance to supply chains and technology standards.”
The following can be attributed to CCIA Vice President and head of the CCIA Brussels office Christian Borggreen:
“CCIA welcomes the EU-U.S. Summit and the Technology and Trade Council to facilitate transatlantic trade and seek regulatory convergence. As allies and close trading partners the EU and the U.S. must urgently resolve trade irritants; a global tax reform must replace unilateral taxes, a new EU-US framework must replace data flow restrictions, and tech policies must never become discriminatory and protectionist.”