French Trade Minister Franck Riester said on Monday 14 February that the second EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC) meeting could be held in May in France. The first was held in Pittsburgh in September 2021 (see EUROPE 12801/20).
The meeting of the EU Trade Ministers in Marseille on Monday was used to prepare for the next TTC meeting and also to “pay tribute to the work undertaken by the European Commission over the past year” in this forum.
The start of the TTC’s work has led to agreement among all Member States on the added value of this forum. According to an EU source, some EU countries would like to completely separate the TTC from the rest of the relationship and the overall context, so that its work moves forward with a clear purpose, regardless of other aspects of the transatlantic relationship.
For the ministers, the priority upcoming topics are: - setting international standards; - securing supply chains (particularly for rare earth materials, magnets and semiconductors); - cooperation on technology (in particular artificial intelligence); - export controls; - investment screening; - coordinating measures against distortive practices; - decarbonising trade.
Since the TTC launched in September, technical teams have been meeting every two to three weeks.
On strengthening supply chains, for example, it is a question of having a common understanding of the so-called ‘critical’ parts of value chains, according to a source involved in the work. According to our source, it is important to have a shared vision of the exact causes of the problems, before talking about measures to remedy them. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)