On Tuesday 28 September, with less than 24 hours to go before the inauguration of the ‘EU-US Trade and Technology Council’ (TTC), the joint statement that was supposed to be issued at the end of the meeting had still not been approved by the Member States. According to an EU source, France has objected to several formulations in the text, including the mention of a transatlantic partnership on semiconductors, as well as the next meeting of the TTC next spring.
While awaiting the first work and the declaration in question, stakeholders on both sides of the Atlantic are already formulating their expectations of the TTC.
In the European Parliament, many MEPs are welcoming this initiative. However, they are cautious about the expected results. For the Chairman of the Committee on International Trade, Bernd Lange (S&D, Germany), confidence is far from being won (see other news).
His colleague Reinhard Bütikofer (Greens/EFA, Germany) was more enthusiastic. He would even like to see this work extended to other partners: "TTC activities also need to be coordinated with a wider range of partners, in particular Japan, India, the UK and Canada”, he said.
Expected commitments
On the business side, expectations are also very high. Both sides of the Atlantic welcome the TTC’s work, but hope to see concrete work and results soon.
AmCham, the American Chamber of Commerce would like to have a clear explanation of the activities of the working groups. It would also like to be able to make its voice heard through a specific mechanism. On this last point, the Commission had given some ideas on how to move in this direction (see EUROPE 12799/18).
In addition to the work planned by the various working groups, AmCham calls for “sustained engagement at the highest levels to provide political vision and direction”. Among the issues not on the TTC’s agenda, but which should be addressed urgently, according to AmCham, is the resolution of the steel and aluminium tariff dispute.
Many other voices have been raised in recent days, including the European business representative BusinessEurope. The organisation suggests establishing an additional working group to address bilateral trade and market access issues, and irritants such as steel and aluminium tariffs.
Finally, BusinessEurope recommends the establishment of a working group on due diligence, as the subject is dealt with on both sides of the Atlantic. The EU is due to present a legislative proposal on this issue at the end of the year, which should ban products made with forced labour from the European market. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)