EU and U.S. officials including U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and EU Trade Commissioner Dombrovskis are gathering in Brussels and Leuven today ahead of a key meeting of the EU-U.S. Trade & Technology Council to discuss transatlantic cooperation, specifically on digital governance and resilient trade.
The upcoming TTC meeting is an important opportunity to re-emphasise the importance of close cooperation between the U.S. and EU on emerging tech issues such as Artificial Intelligence, data privacy and security, connectivity, and international security and defense.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association’s offices in Washington DC and Brussels have consistently supported greater U.S.-EU dialogue and cooperation on trade and technology policy. CCIA welcomes the TTC as a key platform to engage on pressing digital trade issues.
Now more than ever, both partners benefit from ongoing cooperation, bringing priorities and policies closer together.
The following can be attributed to CCIA Senior Vice President and Head of CCIA Europe Daniel Friedlaender:
“As long-time allies and close trading partners, the EU and the U.S. have the chance to set the tone for the next mandate of each partner, making it the ‘mandate of cooperation.’ Our alliance has weathered the most difficult challenges of the past few generations and we come out stronger than ever; if we’re truly united, we can prosper together as the closest of allies and friends. Technology plays a vital role in our continued alliance. The TTC is a unique opportunity to reject all calls for protectionism, and to focus on succeeding together.”
“The message on AI is clear, that the EU, U.S. and UK will work together for the safest and most trusted roll-out of AI. We look forward to a partnership announcement and will be taking part in all efforts to work together.”
The following can be attributed to CCIA Vice President for Digital Trade Jonathan McHale:
“The TTC has always held the potential to be a forum for positive cooperation and problem-solving, and there is an opportunity this week to extend agreements on chip subsidies, the supply chain, and collaboration on AI research. However, time for the TTC to serve as a meaningful venue to address ongoing burdens U.S. suppliers face in the EU market is running out. One area where we hope to see tangible progress is on a compromise on the EU’s Cybersecurity Scheme for Cloud Services, a measure that threatens to exclude U.S. providers from government procurement and, potentially going forward, the broader market. Absent concrete actions and agreements addressing barriers such as EUCS, the lasting impact of the TTC may be greatly diminished.”
