The Trade and Technology Council: the new window for European Union–United States collaboration

 The Trade and Technology Council (TTC) was created in 2021 to be a forum for the United States and European Union (EU) to discuss and agree a common trade and technology agenda that aligns with their shared democratic values. To a degree, this forum also marks a new approach to transatlantic relations, with regulatory coordination used as a tool for economic integration, rather than a brake on achieving it. However, despite an ostensibly more pragmatic approach than prior attempts, the first few months – along with the history of transatlantic trade relations – invite caution when assessing the TTC’s potential successes. 

The TTC was announced at an EU–United States meeting in Brussels in June 2021, and by the end of summer 2022, two meetings had been held. The formal inauguration was at the first meeting, in Pittsburgh in September 2021. By the second, in Paris in May 2022, transatlantic relations had acquired renewed relevance following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the end of February. The third meeting, to be held in the United States, may have taken place by the time this paper is published.

The opinions expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect or represent the position of the organisations in which they work.

Claudia Canals wrote the article in her previous position as Lead Economist at Caixabank Research