The submarine crisis between France and the United States threatens the holding of a new American-European council on technology and trade next week, European sources said on Tuesday. “A date was set next week for the first meeting of the EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC). We are analyzing the impact of (the military agreement between Washington, London and Canberra) AUKUS on this date, ”said European Commission spokesperson Eric Mamer.
The United States is still counting on the holding of this meeting, a US official told reporters on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. The US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, for her part, at the end of a meeting on Tuesday with the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, underlined the “desire (of the United States) for a commitment and close consultation on (their) wide range of shared interests, including through the US-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) ”.
The meeting is scheduled in Pittsburgh
She also, in this statement, “reaffirmed the importance that the Biden administration attaches (to) partnership with the EU”. The two officials, during their meeting in Washington, “discussed expanding and deepening (their) economic relationship – the most important in the world – and working together to ensure that (their) policies benefit (the people). ) citizens and (to) industries on both sides of the Atlantic ”.
This first TTC meeting was scheduled for September 29 in Pittsburgh, United States. The creation of the TTC was announced in June during the visit of US President Joe Biden to Brussels. Claimed by the Europeans, this new body embodied a transatlantic rapprochement after years of tension under the presidency of Donald Trump. It aims to cooperate for regulations that respect human rights, particularly in tech, to counter the influence of China, which is often considered a threat to Western ethical standards (surveillance, data confidentiality, etc.).
Ursula von der Leyen to decide
According to a European diplomat, the French have put forward the idea of postponing the Pittsburgh meeting to protest against the security pact in the Indo-Pacific region concluded between the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom which led to the breach of a major military submarine contract signed by France with Australia. According to this source, the idea however arouses the hostility of the Baltic countries, traditionally aligned with Washington, but also of Germany. “It is up to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to decide,” said another European diplomat.
The new advice “is a way to tie US-EU relations more closely in the Asia-Pacific region, and to talk about some of the trade concerns we all have about the way China runs its affairs,” argued the Minister. US official in New York, on condition of anonymity. “So I would say that for those EU countries that want to be more involved in our Asia-Pacific strategy, holding the TTC is essential,” she added.