Skip to content. | Skip to navigation

Personal tools
Sections
You are here: Home regions USA
Document Actions

The USA and the EU

News about the United States of America and the European Union. The European Union and the United States of America established diplomatic relations as early as 1953, but it was only in November 1990 that the cooperation was formalised for the first time with the Transatlantic Declaration. Since December 1995, the New Transatlantic Agenda (NTA) has provided the foundation for the relationship. The ambitious agenda of cooperation between the EU and the US is taken forward via constant, intensive dialogue. This dialogue takes place at various levels, from the annual summit meetings between EU and US leaders to technical work at expert level. Within the framework of the NTA and in line with the Transatlantic Economic Partnership (TEP)launched in 1998, the Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC) was created in 2007 to take forward efforts to boost the transatlantic economy. Under the TEC umbrella, a High-Level Working Group on Jobs and Growth was established by the 2011 EU-US Summit, tasked to identify policies and measures to increase EU-US trade and investment to support job creation, economic growth, and international competitiveness. The final report with conclusions and recommendations from the Working Group was produced on 12 February 2013. On 14 June, the Council of the European Union adopted negotiating directives for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the US. Together, the EU and the USA have the largest bilateral trade and investment relationship in the world, roughly 31% of the world trade and over 49% of the world GDP. In keeping with the evolving political and legal personality of the EU, there is active cooperation across a host of sectors, such as cooperation in justice and home affairs, energy and energy security, environment, science & technology, and education & training.

EU and U.S. take stock of TTIP progress 19 January 2017, 00:16 CET
The EU and the U.S.published Tuesday a joint assessment of the progress made in the negotiations for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) since negotiations started in July 2013.

U.S. lifts ban on imports of French beef 17 January 2017, 18:56 CET
The United States has lifted a ban on imports of beef from France, representing another step on the reopening of a market which has been closed since the 1990s BSE epidemic.

EU-U.S. (re)insurance deal boost for transatlantic trade 17 January 2017, 18:55 CET
More than 20 years of talks between the EU and the United States ended successfully Friday with a bilateral agreement set to boost transatlantic trade in insurance and re-insurance.

What Will Happen to U.S. Trade Policy When Trump Runs the Zoo? - ECIPE Occasional Paper 03/2016 20 December 2016, 17:52 CET
What kind of political animals will be making U.S. trade policy in the Trump administration? The tone of the campaign suggests that the president-elect will act like a bull in the China shop, but his bellicose roars may instead presage a subtler strategy; it is also possible that his own business interests will influence the direction of U.S. policy. His abandonment of free trade and other Republican orthodoxies will force members of that party to decide whether to act like principled elephants or obedient sheep, even while Democrats choose between being opportunistic jackasses or stubborn mules. And in deciding where to direct its trade negotiations, the Trump administration may aim not just for big game like the United Kingdom and Japan, but could also have a few black swans in its sights. These might include such surprising partners as India, Taiwan, the Philippines, MERCOSUR, and perhaps even Russia.

Putin the real winner from Trump-Brexit axis 20 December 2016, 00:13 CET
This year has been a dispiriting one for the EU. The implications of the votes on Brexit and the American presidency for Europe's economy and its security are still being evaluated.

US-EU data transfer deal set for speedy implementation 02 December 2016, 12:11 CET
The European Parliament gave its final green light to the historic EU-U.S. Data Protection 'Umbrella Agreement' on Thursday, despite concerns over whether president-elect Donald Trump might be less keen on its implementation.

Manufacturing Discontent: The Rise to Power of Anti-TTIP Groups - ECIPE OCCASIONAL PAPER 02/2016 01 December 2016, 15:26 CET
Old beliefs, new symbols, new faces. In 2013, a small group of German green and left- wing activists, professional campaign NGOs and well-established protectionist organisations set up deceptive communication campaigns against TTIP, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the European Union and the United States. Germany’s anti-TTIP NGOs explicitly aimed to take German-centred protests to other European countries. Their reasoning is contradictory and logically inconsistent. Their messages are targeted to serve common sense protectionist demands of generally ill-informed citizens and politicians. Thereby, anti-TTIP communication is based on metaphoric messages and far-fetched myths to effectively evoke citizens’ emotions. Together, these groups dominated over 90 percent of online media reporting on TTIP in Germany.

Euro-MPs greenlight EU-US data protection agreement 01 December 2016, 15:16 CET
The European Parliament gave the green light Thursday to the EU-US 'Umbrella Agreement' on the protection of personal data exchanged across the Atlantic for the purposes of law enforcement.

EU-U.S. Data Protection "Umbrella Agreement" - questions & answers 01 December 2016, 14:46 CET
The EU-US data protection "Umbrella Agreement", given the green light by the European Parliament on 1 December, puts in place a comprehensive high-level data protection framework for EU-US law enforcement cooperation.

WTO rules in EU's favour over U.S. support for Boeing 30 November 2016, 00:00 CET
The EU won a major victory Monday in its battle over United States support for production of the Boeing 777X, as the WTO ruled the aid breached international trade rules.

Brexit II horror movie opens in the U.S. 10 November 2016, 21:43 CET
Brexit II, sequel to the first Brexit horror movie shot in the United Kingdom, opened in the United States this week to shock and derision from most critics, though to some acclaim in Russia.

'Difficult moment' in EU-US relations as EU congratulates Trump 09 November 2016, 13:13 CET
The presidents of the European Union's three main institutions congratulated Donald Trump Wednesday on his election as the next President of the United States.

EU - U.S. Privacy Shield goes operational 04 August 2016, 23:41 CET
From 1 August, companies can sign up to the Privacy Shield with the U.S. Department of Commerce who can verify their privacy policies comply with data protection standards required by the EU-U.S. agreement signed 12 July.

Transatlantic unity 'never more important' in face of common challenges 19 July 2016, 23:48 CET
Meeting US Secretary of State John Kerry Monday, EU foreign affairs ministers highlighted the strength of the transatlantic partnership and its importance in addressing foreign and global challenges.

EU visa reciprocity mechanism 14 July 2016, 12:23 CET
The European Commission adopted a Communication on 13 July regarding the visa reciprocity situation with Canada and the United States, evaluating the progress achieved in discussions with both countries and setting out the next steps.

EU-US data transfer accord enters into force 13 July 2016, 00:31 CET
The European Union approved Tuesday the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, a special arrangement that replaces the former 'Safe Harbor' agreement to allow transfer of personal data from the EU to the United States.

Round 14 of EU - US trade talks under way 12 July 2016, 16:27 CET
The 14th round of EU talks to agree the huge Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership (TTIP) free trade accord with the United States got under way in Brussels Monday.

EU clears acquisition of Airbus Defence Electronics by US private equity company KKR 06 June 2016, 23:07 CET
The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the acquisition of Airbus Defence Electronics by KKR of the US.

EU, US sign shared law enforcement data deal 05 June 2016, 15:48 CET
The EU signed an 'umbrella' deal on protection of shared data with the United States Thursday, putting in place a comprehensive data protection framework for criminal law enforcement cooperation.

EU-US 'Privacy Shield' data deal needs improvement, say MEPs 26 May 2016, 17:55 CET
The European Parliament urged the EU Commission Thursday to go on negotiating with the United States over the proposed 'Privacy Shield' protection for EU citizens’ data transferred to the US for commercial purposes.

Greenpeace leaks increase pressure for TTIP transparency 05 May 2016, 16:58 CET
The EU is under increasing pressure to be more open about what is being negotiated under the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), following leaks by Greenpeace of classified documents from the TTIP trade talks.

Visa reciprocity with US, Canada & Brunei: EU mulls next move 14 April 2016, 22:31 CET
With the U.S., Canada and Brunei continuing to apply visa requirements for citizens of some EU Member States, the European Commission has assessed the legal, political and economic consequences of a possible temporary suspension of the visa waiver with these countries.

The Beauty of Public Procurement in TTIP 01 March 2016, 18:35 CET
The TTIP negotiation is taking another leap of faith as it delves into the question of public procurement this week. The topic is inarguably a thorny issue where market access gets linked to "sub-central" levels of decision-making (State or even Municipality "independent" choices), national security and jobs policy. Yet the U.S. procurement market is, by any means, sizeable, and the EU has made it a pivotal objective to open up procurement at sub-central levels, enabling EU companies to bid for State level tenders. Dealing with these issues requires thus an honest assessment of the situation, present and future. It raises two matters to be discussed: A reality-check on the real openness of the two negotiating partners and a better view of the broader situation in the future.

EU-U.S. Privacy Shield legal texts 29 February 2016, 13:47 CET
The European Commission issued on 29 February the legal texts that will put in place the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield as well as a Communication summarising action taken to restore trust in transatlantic data flows since the 2013 surveillance revelations.

EU-US Privacy Shield 02 February 2016, 18:49 CET
The European Commission and the United States agreed on 3 February a new framework for transatlantic data flows: the EU-US Privacy Shield.