MEPs debate on the first meeting of the EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC) which held in Pittsburgh on 29 September 2021. TTC's objectives is to coordinate approaches to key global technology, economic, and trade issues; and to deepen transatlantic trade and economic relations, basing policies on shared democratic values. Opening statements by Valdis DOMBROVSKIS European Commission Vice-president ofr Trade and by Margrethe VESTAGER, European Commission Vice-president for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

Brussels

statement

debate

plenary session

EU - USA (T)

DOMBROVSKIS, Valdis (EPP, LV, EC)

EU trade policy (T)

VESTAGER, Margrethe (DK, CE)

The outcome of the EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC): opening statements by Valdis DOMBROVSKIS European Commission Vice-president ofr Trade and by Margrethe VESTAGER, European Commission Vice-president for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age

SOUNDBITE (English), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, EC vice-president for Trade, Mr. Chair, honourable members. Before going to the Trade and Technology Council itself, let me first zoom out and outline was the year 2021 has been landmark year for transatlantic relations. We have successfully pressed the reset button Biden's administration.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margrethe VESTAGER, EC vice-president for a Europe fit for the Digital age, After the grounding of the Airbus Boeing dispute as the EU US summit in June, we also agreed to hit a pause button on the steel and aluminium trade dispute. Our agreement includes starting discussions on a new global arrangement on sustainable steel and aluminium. Of course, we remain attentive and active in a number of U.S. policy developments that may affect EU interests.

SOUNDBITE (English), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, EC vice-president for Trade, Those could be the increase of the U.S. domestic content via the enforcement of 'buy American' or the use of tax incentives, for example, for the purchase of electrical vehicles. But overall, it is clear that our trade and investment partnership remains the global engine of prosperity.

SOUNDBITE (English), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, EC vice-president for Trade, Beyond resolving our trade disputes, we must create space to find new avenues of cooperation and deal with the challenges and opportunities of the future. In this respect, the first meeting of the Trade and Technology Council at the end of September represented an important step in the right direction, as well as important political signal.

SOUNDBITE (English), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, EC vice-president for Trade, We are ready to lead the way in setting the standards and rules for technologies of the 21st century, putting our core values as a centre. We are addressing and our mental challenges and market opportunities for clean technology, and we are ensuring more resilient and secure supply chains, in particular in semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and critical materials for our economies.

SOUNDBITE (English), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, EC vice-president for Trade, The trade component of the TTC is of particular importance and we have determined shared principles and areas for export control cooperation, especially on dual use technologies.

SOUNDBITE (English), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, EC vice-president for Trade, We also agreed to cooperate on best practises in investment screening, for example, on risk analysis and risk mitigation in a later in relation to sensitive technologies. As there will be a special focus on SMEs, and on policies that can accelerate their uptake of digital technologies.

SOUNDBITE (English), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, EC vice-president for Trade, We will work together on global trade challenges like non-market economic policies and practises, the protection of labour rights such as combating forced and child labour and addressing trade related aspects of climate and environmental action will also be part of our work.

SOUNDBITE (English), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, EC vice-president for Trade, Finally, we aim at avoiding unnecessary barriers to trade in new technologies while respecting our regulatory autonomy. We held a certain emotion and a whole range of work strands that we will now pursue with regard to ensure concrete or concrete progress.

SOUNDBITE (English), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, EC vice-president for Trade, We will meet regularly at principals level, so next meeting is scheduled for spring 2022 in the EU. There is strong willingness on both sides of the Atlantic to make our cooperation in the TTC a success.

SOUNDBITE (English), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, EC vice-president for Trade, We are counting on your support for these members of European Parliament, but also national governments are essential in raising awareness around the fact that the benefits they gained from transatlantic cooperation will also require some compromises.

SOUNDBITE (English), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, EC vice-president for Trade, We are committed to providing the European Parliament with information on the work of the TTC and we are committed to a transparent and inclusive engagement with key stakeholders and civil society at large.

SOUNDBITE (English), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, EC vice-president for Trade, Stakeholder engagement figured prominently, also in the first TTC meeting. Last month, the Commission also opened a One-Stop Shop to collect a continuous stakeholder input on the platform called Futurium. I strongly encourage you to promote this point of contact amongst your constituencies and stakeholders.

SOUNDBITE (English), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, EC vice-president for Trade, We also encourage stakeholders on both sides of the Atlantic to join forces and, whatever possible, work together to shape joint transatlantic positions. Thank you and now Executive Vice-President Vestager will provide you with more inputs on technology side of the Trade and Technology Council. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margrethe VESTAGER, EC vice-president for a Europe fit for the Digital age, President, honourable members, thank you very much for the invitation to come here with Valdis to have this exchange and to debrief you on the first meeting of the Trade and Technology Council.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margrethe VESTAGER, EC vice-president for a Europe fit for the Digital age, Our digital partnership with the US plays an important role in enabling us to deliver on what we have set up for this digital decade. We have an opportunity to set a vision for a democratic and human centred digital transformation, both at home, but obviously also around the world.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margrethe VESTAGER, EC vice-president for a Europe fit for the Digital age, And following the successful first meeting in Pittsburgh on the 29th of September, I think it is clea,r that the TTC has a huge potential. We spent one and a half day together with US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margrethe VESTAGER, EC vice-president for a Europe fit for the Digital age, We had positive, frank, direct discussions. We do not always agree on every topic, but I think that shows that we are not just a talking shop, but we aim for concrete deliverables for making progress on the issues at stake.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margrethe VESTAGER, EC vice-president for a Europe fit for the Digital age, Now, the TTC will focus on the actions identified in the joint statements, where the 10 working groups have been given specific tasks. While this has taken you through a number of these very important points.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margrethe VESTAGER, EC vice-president for a Europe fit for the Digital age, So let me just briefly touch upon three areas of particular importance when it comes to the technology side of the Trade and Technology Council. First, on artificial intelligence, we have agreed in Pittsburgh to develop trustworthy A.I. to oppose the uses of A.I. that violates fundamental rights.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margrethe VESTAGER, EC vice-president for a Europe fit for the Digital age, To achieve this, we will develop mutual principles, concrete implementation tools and also value based innovation projects. And I think this outcome shows that there is no transatlantic contradiction between promoting innovation and protecting our fundamental values.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margrethe VESTAGER, EC vice-president for a Europe fit for the Digital age, Second, on semiconductors, we will work on rebalancing global supply chains with a view to enhancing security of supply for both the US and, of course, the European Union. We will, as a first step, jointly identify gaps and vulnerabilities behind the current chip shortage.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margrethe VESTAGER, EC vice-president for a Europe fit for the Digital age, Sharing our assessment from information collectors from industry. As the next step, we will discuss how to cooperate in our respective investment strategies. We both want to strengthen our domestic capacities while sharing the aim of avoiding a harmful and expensive subsidy race.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margrethe VESTAGER, EC vice-president for a Europe fit for the Digital age, We need to diversify our sources of supply to avoid single points of failure, ensuring that we can rely on them. Also, in times of crisis, I think that is a very important lesson that we all learnt from the pandemic.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margrethe VESTAGER, EC vice-president for a Europe fit for the Digital age, Last on platforms. The Pittsburgh statement shows that we have built consensus on a set of common challenges, but also shared concerns. These concerns have even been, I think, more relevant after the testimony of Miss Frances Hogan in this house earlier this week.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margrethe VESTAGER, EC vice-president for a Europe fit for the Digital age, As a first step, we will work with the U.S. on urgent topics source of ultimate algorithmic amplification, transparency and data access to platforms by researchers.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margrethe VESTAGER, EC vice-president for a Europe fit for the Digital age, Both sides have committed to robust and continues engagement with a huge range of stakeholders, including civil society, to ensure that there is a sufficient volume ownership, so the outcomes of the cooperation will have real effects on the ground.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margrethe VESTAGER, EC vice-president for a Europe fit for the Digital age, This, of course, for this to be successful, it requires the close involvement of the European Parliament and, as Valdis just said, we really welcome the strong support for the TTC, also shown by the visit of several committees to Washington DC last week.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margrethe VESTAGER, EC vice-president for a Europe fit for the Digital age, As Valdis said next spring in Europe, the venue and the date has not been set yet, but it will be here within the Union and of course, we hope to keep our engagement with this house ahead of this meeting. Thank you very much.