On Wednesday 29 September, CERRE’s Director General, Prof. Bruno Liebhaberg, panel-participated in the Inaugural Meeting of the EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC) in a virtual stakeholder roundtable.
The TTC will serve as a forum for the US and EU to coordinate approaches to key global trade, economic, and technology issues and to deepen transatlantic trade and economic relations based on shared democratic values. Co-chaired by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, and Trade Representative Katherine Tai, together with European Commission Executive Vice-Presidents Margrethe Vestager, and Valdis Dombrovskis, it will also feed into global efforts to promote a democratic model of digital governance.
In a session on ‘How the TTC can support complementary approaches to new and emerging technologies’ Bruno Liebhaberg proposed what contribution the TTC could make to the regulation of tech highlighting areas of potential action such as an interoperability obligation between digital services, technology standards, and enhanced cooperation in merger policy.
“The TTC is a unique opportunity to move towards a regulatory framework on technology which stimulates innovation, investment and sustainable growth, optimises the experiences of business, consumers and users, upholds the democratic rights of citizens and, as such, benefits the economy and society.”
His intervention also focused on the fact that the TTC can identify and promote convergence of tech regulation between two global regulatory superpowers and manage divergence by facilitating regulatory co-existence:
“Whether we like it or not, we live in a truly global world where interdependence is a fact. If we want to promote a new stage of sustainable, equitable globalisation in the digitalised global village, the challenge will often consist in efficiently managing divergences, including with those authoritarian states and illiberal democracies whose objectives and values are very far from ours.”
