Representatives from the US government are meeting their counterparts from the EU today (4 April) in the latest gathering of the EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC). It runs until tomorrow in Leuven, Belgium.
Green talk
Euronews reports that the meeting will focus on building a “sustainable and resilient” marketplace to help ensure the trade of goods related to the transition away from fossil fuels.
Draft conclusions from the meeting highlight opportunities for “boosting trade and supply chains” between the US and EU in an effort to “accelerate the uptake of more sustainable and greener solutions”, particularly in public procurement.
The aim of the meeting is to achieve “common environmental and climate goals”. One measure in the pipeline for development after the meeting is a shared US-EU catalogue of best practices on green public procurement.
There is also talk of a fresh collaborative effort in “diversifying global critical minerals supply chains”, with an expansion of the measures first set out in the Mineral Security Partnership announced last year. Negotiations are set to continue towards an agreement on critical minerals among the council members, though there are hopes that an agreement in principle could be reached at the current TTC.
Eyes on AI
The US Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) issued a statement yesterday ahead of the meeting, noting it was an “important opportunity” to foster continued cooperation between the US and EU on the safe development of new technologies.
CCIA Senior Vice President and Head of CCIA Europe Daniel Friedlaender drew attention to the subject of AI, and said that the US and EU “have the chance to set the tone for the next mandate of each partner”, with 2024 an election year in both America and Europe.
“Technology plays a vital role in our continued alliance. The TTC is a unique opportunity to reject all calls for protectionism and to focus on succeeding together.
“The message on AI is clear, that the EU, US and UK will work together for the safest and most trusted roll-out of AI. We look forward to a partnership announcement and will be taking part in all efforts to work together.”
Other groups have had their say on the meeting’s implications for the AI industry, too. Digitaleurope has said that “the European AI Office and [its] US counterpart should collaborate to develop a common framework for generative AI”.
Gas giants
The meeting comes as the EU continues to move away from its dependency on one major gas exporter – Russia – and towards another in the US. But Politico reports on growing anxiety in Europe that is becoming too dependent on American energy.
The US government is facing growing calls from environmentalists to dial down liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from states like Texas, which is causing jitters in Europe after US president Joe Biden ordered a pause on new LNG projects before this year’s general election.
Europe’s demand for LNG has almost doubled since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, now making up almost half of its total gas demand.
Ana Maria Jaller-Makarewicz, lead energy analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), cautioned as part of a recent report that Europe must learn from its past mistakes and avoid becoming over-reliant on the US, which provided nearly half of its LNG imports last year. IEEFA does expect that Europe’s LNG demand will peak next year, but it marks another source of potential trade friction between the EU and US.