EU and US set up Trade and Technology Council

The coordination will happen under a Trade and Technology Council, which will focus on fostering joint positions on a range of issues that have become central to the economy.

According to the joint statement, “the major goals of the TTC will be to grow the bilateral trade and investment relationship; to avoid new unnecessary technical barriers to trade; to coordinate, seek common ground and strengthen global cooperation on technology, digital issues and supply chains; to support collaborative research and exchanges; to cooperate on compatible and international standards development; to facilitate regulatory policy and enforcement cooperation and, where possible, convergence; to promote innovation and leadership by US and European firms; and to strengthen other areas of cooperation.”

Yesterday’s announcement marks the beginning of the Council and a lot remains to be worked out. In the coming months, EU and US officials are expected to set up 10 working groups that address a range of issues, including “technology standards cooperation, climate and green tech, ICT security and competitiveness, data governance and technology platforms, the misuse of technology threatening security and human rights, export controls, investment screening, promoting SMEs access to, and use of, digital technologies, and global trade challenges.”

Other areas of cooperation will be competition, research and innovation and cybersecurity.

The two sides also committed to work on allowing digital information to flow between both sides, while still upholding people’s privacy rights. Yet, transatlantic data flows are still in limbo after the ECJ invalidated the Privacy Shield last summer.

The EU and the US have also agreed to work together  to bring more of the microchip production closer to home to avoid costly hurdles and potential geopolitical issues with China.

As companies operating globally, the UK technology sector has been supportive of global cooperation on digital economy regulation and standards. We’ll be monitoring progress on the EU-US TTC closely and should members have anu questions or wish to get involved in this work, they should reach out to [email protected].

Sabina Ciofu

Associate Director – International, techUK

Sabina Ciofu is Associate Director – International, running the International Policy and Trade Programme at techUK.

Based in Brussels, she leads our EU policy and engagement. She is also our lead on international trade policy, with a focus on digital trade chapter in FTAs, regulatory cooperation as well as broader engagement with the G7, G20, WTO and OECD.

As a transatlanticist at heart, Sabina is a GMF Marshall Memorial fellow and issue-lead on the EU-US Trade and Technology Council, within DigitalEurope.

Previously, she worked as Policy Advisor to a Member of the European Parliament for almost a decade, where she specialised in tech regulation, international trade and EU-US relations.

Sabina loves building communities and bringing people together. She is the founder of the Gentlewomen’s Club and co-organiser of the Young Professionals in Digital Policy. Previously, as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community, she led several youth civic engagement and gender equality projects.

She sits on the Advisory Board of the University College London European Institute, Café Transatlantique, a network of women in transatlantic technology policy and The Nine, Brussels’ first members-only club designed for women.

Sabina holds an MA in War Studies from King’s College London and a BA in Classics from the University of Cambridge.

Email:

[email protected]

Phone:

+32 473 323 280

Website:

www.techuk.org

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