Il ya peu (c’était en février dernier) nous nous interrogions sur la reprise prochaine des négociations entre les USA et l’Europe sur un traité de libre échange.
Puis en parcourant plus attentivement le site internet du TABD nous sommes tombés sur cette lettre adressée par les co-présidents de cet institution au vice-président de la commission européenne qui est aussi le commissaire en charge du commerce international.
Cette lettre est plus qu’un texte de courtoisie, c’est une proposition de relance de l’agenda transatlantique qu’avaient en leur temps mis sur pied Bill Clinton alors Président des USA et Jacques Delors, président de la commission européenne. Le détail des sujets mentionnés montre sans contestation que l’épisode Trump n’a pas totalement bloqué la préparation du grand marché transatlantique rèvé par les américains dans leur volonté de “América first” et Emmanuel Macron, Jupiter au petit pied qui cherche à faire de l’UE le marche pied de ses ambitions.
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extrait du site du TABC www.transatlanticbusiness.org
TRANS-ATLANTIC
BUSlNESS COUNCIL
Brussels 1 Washington DC. February 25, 2021
Dear Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis,
The Trans-Atlantic Business Council (“TASC”) is a cross-sectorial business association representing companies headquartered in the EU and U.S. that serves as a key business interlocutor to both the U.S. government and the EU institutions on issues impacting the transatlantic economy’.
The TASC aims to promote and enhance transatlantic economic integration and strengthened political ties between the EU and U.S., while reinfordng the role of business as a major stakeholder in various EU-US official dialogues.
The EU and U.S. are jointly responsible for more than one-third of global gross domestic product, and transatlantic trade and investment supports millions of jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.” The two jurisdictions are traditionally committed to fair and open trade, common values, bilateral cooperation, and multilateralism.
ln recent years, the EU-U.S. relationship was damaged by barriers and disputes that dominated transatlantic dynamics, overshadowing common economic and strategie objectives. As a new U.S.Administration takes office, now it is the time to set an agenda newtransatlantic aimed at addressing the many common economic and geopolitical challenges ahead.
As a first step, it is key for EU and U.S. to solve current trade and regulatory disputes and gaps, including steel and aluminum tariffs and countermeasures, Boeing/Airbus duties, and agree on a new data transfer framework. Seyond this, the TASC and its member companies cali on the EU and the U.S. to work towards a renewed partnership on trade, investment and digital, built on a framework of dialogue, cooperation and coordination.
This is why the TASC strongly welcomed the recent joint statement on transatlantic relations put forward by the European Commission (“Commission”) and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy..
1 The TABC was creared in 2013 as the result of a merger between TransAtlantic Business Dialogue (“TABD”) and European-American Business Council (“EABC’j.
The TABD was convened in 1995 by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the European Commission to serve as the official dialogue between American and European business leaders and U.S. Cabinet Secretaries and EU Commissioners.
2 U.S. Chamber of Commerce & AmChamEU, The Transatlantic Economy 2020
Among the many proposais included in the joint statement, the TABC particularly supports the establishment of an EU-US Trade and Technology Council (”TTC”) aimed at creating opportunities for market- an industry-driven transatlantic collaboration, strengthening EU-US technological and industrial leadership and expanding bilateral trade and investment.
The TTC should be a platform for the two sides to engage in a variety of areas, includirig trade and competition regulatory cooperation, new technologies, and innovation. ln particular, the TTC should focus on specific areas that are of critical relevance for the future competitiveness of EU and US, including for example market access, data governance, cvbersecurity, artificial intelligence, regulation and standards, digital resilience and platforms governance, and low carbon technologies (linked to the creation of a transatlantic green tech alliance
Importantly, a relaunch of the EU-US engagement on conformity assessments should also be part of the TICs mandate. While we fully recognize the potential difficulties related to procedural and structural differences between EU and US, we take the view that a
practical approach and ambitious agenda are warranted.
The TABC has traditionally played an officÎal businesses representation role in the framework of various EU-US officiai fora, including for example the Transatlantic Economie Council and the EU-US IPR Working Group. We thus stand ready to thoroughly engage with a future TTC, and look- forward to a regular and structured partnership with the TIC on behalf of the transatlantic business community.
Sincerely,
Ms. Dagmar Schnelle Mr Josh Denney Director,
Government Affairs SVP, Director of governement Affairs
AudiAG BBVA USA
Co-Chair, TASC (Europe) co-Chair TABC (United States)
To
Giovanni Campi
Brussels Office
Rue de l’Industrie 26/38
1040 Brussels
Belgium
gcampi@transatlanticbusiness.org
(T) +32.(0)2.336.1910
TABC provides a platform for EU and U.S. companies to develop common positions on pollicy issues impacting the transatlantic economic space.
EU Transparency Register Number: 89092554724-82
