Trade and Technology Council: Inaugural meeting agrees on important deliverables and outlines areas for future EU-US cooperation

At the first meeting of the Trade and Technology Council (TTC) in Pittsburgh, the EU and the US agreed on concrete deliverables and outlined the future scope of work. Notably, the EU and the US committed to cooperating closely on shared priorities such as export controls, foreign investment screening, critical and emerging technology standards including Artificial Intelligence, and secure supply chains including on semiconductors. They also agreed to work together on important global trade issues, such as the challenges posed by non-market economies and trade-related climate and environment issues, as well as avoiding unnecessary trade barriers on new technologies and promoting fundamental labour rights. Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for a Europe fit for the Digital Age, said: “With the Trade and Technology Council we give new life to our relationship based on our common democratic values. It will help drive the digital transformation of our economies, boost trade and investment and build resilient and sustainable supply chains. Together, we can ensure that new technologies are developed and deployed in ways that uphold our values and advance our efforts to tackle the climate change crisis.” Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President for an Economy that works for people, said: “This first TTC meeting marks a fresh chapter in our transatlantic relations. Today, the EU and the US committed to work at pace to jointly shape the standards and rules that will support our businesses, workers, and consumers in the 21st century. This is about ensuring that technology can transform our lives for the better, with the right values and checks in place. And about cooperating more deeply to tackle mutual trade challenges. We will now carry this work forward along with a wide range of stakeholders.” The first meeting of the TTC also set out clear work programmes for each of the 10 TTC working groups. Future meetings will focus on defining ambitions in equally important areas such as data governance and tech platforms, clean technology, SME access to digital, ICT security and competitiveness and combatting the misuse of technology. The full joint statement is available online. More information is also available in a factsheet on the first meeting, and a general factsheet on the TTC.