The EESC's Transatlantic Relations Follow-up Committee met just days ahead of the high‑level EU-US summit to discuss a wide range of subjects of importance to civil society, first and foremost climate change and trade.

"Encouraging signals on all fronts are coming from both sides of the Atlantic", said Christian Moos, president of the EESC's Transatlantic Relations Follow-up Committee.

David Livingston, senior advisor to Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, confirmed that the current administration was now fully committed to meeting and going beyond the Paris agreement objectives. "It will not be acceptable", he said, "for major key player countries to let 2021 go by without substantial updates to their National Determined Contributions, which are at the heart of the Paris Agreement".

"The active participation of civil society in the US together with the EU and other countries allowed the US to maintain an engagement, despite the absence of commitment from the previous administration", noted Elina Bardram, from the European Commission's Directorate-General for Climate Action  (DG CLIMA).

The Atlantic Council's Emilie Bel stressed that Europeans were ready to build a positive trade agenda, but on an evenly balanced basis.

Marjorie Chorlins from the US Chamber of Commerce, affirmed that, despite transatlantic political turbulence and the COVID-19-induced recession, the US and Europe remained each other's most important markets. The recently published Transatlantic Economy 2021 report demonstrated that the two partners represented a substantial portion of global consumption and global GDP. 

Tanja Buzek, president of the EESC's International Trade Follow-up Committee, stressed the importance of civil society involvement for a transparent trade policy and the need for strong coalitions to reform the WTO. (at)