The EU and the United States held the sixth meeting of the EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC) in Leuven, Belgium. Building on prior gatherings, the ministerial continued to polish areas of common interest, while softpedaling longstanding areas of disagreement.
The US delegation included US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai. The Commission was represented by Executive Vice-Presidents Margrethe Vestager and Valdis Dombrovskis, joined by Commissioner Thierry Breton.
Responding to a question about the effectiveness of the TTC, Ms. Raimondo pushed back: “Look at where the US and the EU were three years ago with respect to our collaboration on issues of technology and trade. It's it's nearly night and day. From when the Biden administration began until today, and the TTC has played a core role in that in the way that we have managed trade irritants.
“Let let's remember when we started this administration. We had 232 steel and aluminum tariffs and that issue has been resolved... It resulted in the speed with which the US and the Europeans got together after the war broke out to lead a coalition of 36 countries to level export controls against Russia. This was in large part due to the collaboration of the TTC.”
The ministers reaffirmed their common commitment to a “risk-based approach” to artificial intelligence, including a new Dialogue between the EU AI office and the US Safety Institute on developing tools, methodologies, and benchmarks for measuring and evaluating AI models.
Noting the imperative for Post-Quantum Cryptography Coordination, The readout states: “The European Union and the United States affirm the importance of the rapid mobilisation to secure our digital communication networks against the threats posed by the potential for a future cryptanalytically-relevant quantum computer. Our joint work in Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC), feeding into the EU-US Cyber Dialogue, enables European Union and United States. partners to share information to understand activities in PQC standardisation and in the transition to PQC.”
The parties agreed to support a common 6G vision, including an administrative arrangement for research collaboration. focused on “technology challenges and research collaboration including on microelectronics; AI and cloud solutions for 6G; security and resilience; affordability and inclusiveness, sustainability and energy efficiency; openness and interoperability; efficient radio spectrum usage; and the standardisation process.”
In the semiconductors area, the EU and the US are extending for three years their two administrative arrangements to identify early-on supply chain disruptions and ensure subsidies transparency.
On emerging technology standards, the EU and US referred to their December 2023 Digital Identity Mapping Report.
Both sides reaffirmed the importance of the Transatlantic Initiative on Sustainable Trade (TIST). Ministers agreed to publish a Joint Catalogue of Best Practices on Green Public Procurement to help accelerate the deployment of publicly financed sustainability projects, and to advance their cooperation on solar supply chains.
To facilitate digital tools in trade, technical standards for e-invoicing systems have been aligned.
The EU-US Clean Energy Incentives Dialogue published recommendations for greater transatlantic e-vehicle charging infrastructure compatibility.
The Trade and Labour Dialogue (TALD) held its third meeting at the TTC ministerial meeting, and the Talent for Growth Task Force , a platform for skills development and shortages in the technology sector presented its outcomes in the margins of the TTC.
Negotiations continue toward a Critical Minerals Agreement while the parties launched the Minerals Security Partnership Forum.
Ministers also discussed partnering on economic security, recognizing the role the TTC has consistently played in EU-US work on export controls against Russia and Belarus.
They resolved to "further align their respective priorities in this regard and to continue work on facilitating secure high-technology trade while maintaining an effective export controls regime, foreign investment screening and the risks posed by outbound investments in certain critical technologies."
The EU and the US have developed a set of joint principles on gender-based violence on online platforms which complement the list of high-level principles on the protection and empowerment of minors and data access for researchers, which are in line with the EU's Digital Services Act.
Both partners resolved to combat foreign information manipulation and interference, especially in a year when many elections take place in the world. Following suit, they have published joint Recommended Actions for Online Platforms on Protecting Human Rights Defenders Online.
The EU and US committed to facilitating data access from online platforms and published a report on mechanisms for researcher access to such data.
The TTC also committed to support secure and resilient digital infrastructure and connectivity projects in Tunisia, adding to projects underway in Costa Rica, Jamaica, Kenya, and the Philippines.
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