Tom Vandenkendelaere debates EU-US economic relations, for a strong Transatlantic Cooperation #USA

The EU and US are home to nearly 800 million people, have a strong stake in a peaceful and equitable world. We strive to uphold the UN Charter and a rules-based multilateral system, and to ensure global prosperity and stability.

We work together to promote common values, which include peace, freedom, democracy and the rule of law. The summit represents an opportunity to consolidate and project our leadership in responding to pressing global challenges, which our global partners expect us to jointly address.

The close cooperation and strategic relations between the European Union and its Member States and the United States are built on common history and a shared set of democratic values. These are key to both partners’ security and prosperity. The EU and the US closely cooperate in a number of foreign policy areas and geographical contexts, such as security, energy and technology cooperation, Russia, Ukraine, the Western Balkans, counter-terrorism and the Middle East peace process.

Joe Biden’s inauguration as President of the US on 20 January 2021 brought impetus to the EU-US relationship, which had deteriorated during President Trump’s term. An ambitious EU-US agenda for global change, identifying areas of cooperation, was published in December 2020 by the Commission and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR). This momentum continued with the EU-US security and defence dialogue and the new EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC) launched at the EU-US summit on 15 June 2021. More recently, on 10 March 2023, US President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signed a joint statement addressing the joint efforts to end the Russian war against Ukraine and cooperation on building the clean economies of the future.

The EU, the US and Canada share the values of democracy, human rights, the rule of law, and economic and political freedom, and have common foreign policy and security concerns. Close cooperation and strategic relations with the US and Canada remain a priority for the EU.

Interparliamentary dialogue – the Transatlantic Legislators’ Dialogue process

Relations between Parliament and the US Congress date back to 1972. The relationship was upgraded and institutionalised with the establishment of the Transatlantic Legislators’ Dialogue (TLD) in 1999. The dialogue brings together Members of the European Parliament and members of the US House of Representatives at biannual interparliamentary meetings (IPMs) that alternate between the US and Europe. Both sides regard IPMs as a good forum for positive and constructive collaboration. Legislators attending these meetings exchange views on key political issues of mutual concern, such as trade and economic cooperation, foreign policy challenges and security and defence, among others. The importance of transatlantic political dialogue is substantial given Congress’s legislative responsibility and power to authorise US intervention in global crises and shape US participation in global governance institutions. The 85th EU-US IPM/TLD was held in Washington DC, in December 2022. The topics discussed included transatlantic support to Ukraine and Moldova, the EU and US policy stances towards China and Iran, the TTC, energy security and climate. Ajoint statement signed at the end of the meeting further defined the outcome of the discussion and scope for transatlantic dialogue and cooperation in the future.

EU-US economic relations

The EU and the US are the world’s major global traders and investors. The EU is the largest economy in the world, representing 24% of global GDP and 17% of trade. The US is the second-largest economy, with 23% of global GDP and 11% of trade.

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