Hello and welcome to E-Syp's Global Economy podcast. My name is Frederick Erickson and

Today. I am joined by my Connie, Oscar Aguena, to talk about France-Atlantic economic performance and

trans-Atlantic economic relations, especially in light of the upcoming transatlantic

Trade and Technology Summit now in April.

Oscar, you've been following the development of the TTC, as it's called, all over the last

years. Can you paint us a picture of what it is and whether

this initiative has been useful and delivered meaningful results?

Yes, of course, and thanks for having me. So the EU and the US Trade and Technology Council

is actually a forum. It is a space created in June 2021 for EU and US policy makers to meet, to discuss, and to try to

come up with plans, initiatives and agreements that help and achieve whatever common goal they

have.

So the TTC has had five main areas of work, which are export controls, foreign direct investment,

screening, secure supply chains,

technology standards, and global trade challenges. And in order to achieve the common goals in

these five areas, the EU and the US have established 10 working groups. The work done by civil

servants in these working groups is steer at the political level to provide leadership over the main priorities.

So when the EU commissioners and the US Secretary of States meet, they can show some results.

And there have been some concrete outcomes out of the TTC, so we can mention some wins in artificial intelligence,

in additive manufacturing,

the standardization of charges for electric vehicles, and an agreement of good manufacturing practices for veterinary medicine.

But I think everyone will agree that there is a gap between the grand titles of the working group areas and the working groups

and the actual deliverables.

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