Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash
The United States and the European Union share the most comprehensive and dynamic economic relationship in the world.
That is the key message from a joint statement issued on Saturday by US President Biden and EC president Ursula von der Leyen.
The long statement also said the partnership is based on “shared values and principles, including the responsibility to protect our planet for future generations and defend our workers.”
On Ukraine, it said, “The United States and the European Union have taken a strong and united stand against Russia’s illegal, unjustifiable, and unprovoked war against Ukraine.”
It added, “Today, the United States and the European Union are taking new steps to deepen our economic relationship as we build the clean energy economies of the future and address shared economic and national security challenges.”
The statement, in full, is here:
“The United States and European Union are committed to addressing the climate crisis, accelerating the global clean energy economy, and building resilient, secure, and diversified clean energy supply chains. Both parties recognize that these objectives are at the heart of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act and the EU Green Deal Industrial Plan. By building and strengthening our own clean energy industrial bases and investing in the industries of the future, the United States and the European Union will create good-paying jobs and spark virtuous cycles of innovation that drive down costs for clean energy technologies in the global market, making those technologies more affordable and advancing a global just energy transition that will leave no community behind.”
“The EU-U.S. Task Force on the Inflation Reduction Act has productively deepened our partnership on these common goals, and has taken practical steps forward on identified challenges to align our approaches on strengthening and securing supply chains, manufacturing, and innovation on both sides of the Atlantic.”
“We will deepen our cooperation on diversifying critical mineral and battery supply chains, recognizing the substantial opportunities on both sides of the Atlantic to build out these supply chains in a strong, secure, and resilient manner. To that end, we intend to immediately begin negotiations on a targeted critical minerals agreement for the purpose of enabling relevant critical minerals extracted or processed in the European Union to count toward requirements for clean vehicles in the Section 30D clean vehicle tax credit of the Inflation Reduction Act. This kind of agreement would further our shared goals of boosting our mineral production and processing and expanding access to sources of critical minerals that are sustainable, trusted, and free of labor abuses. Cooperation is also necessary to reduce unwanted strategic dependencies in these supply chains, and to ensure that they are diversified and developed with trusted partners.”
“We further recognize the need to make bold investments to build clean energy economies and industrial bases, including in electric vehicle batteries and clean hydrogen. Today, the United States and the European Commission announced the launch of the Clean Energy Incentives Dialogue to coordinate our respective incentive programs so that they are mutually reinforcing. Both sides will take steps to avoid any disruptions in transatlantic trade and investment flows that could arise from their respective incentives. We are working against zero-sum competition so that our incentives maximize clean energy deployment and jobs—and do not lead to windfalls for private interests. The Clean Energy Incentives Dialogue will become a part of the EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council where it will also facilitate information-sharing on non-market policies and practices of third parties—such as those employed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC)—to serve as the basis for joint or parallel action and coordinated advocacy on these issues in multilateral or other fora.”
It goes on, “We are committed to achieving an ambitious outcome in the Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminum negotiations by October 2023. The arrangement will ensure the long-term viability of our industries, encourage low-carbon intensity steel and aluminum production and trade, and restore market-oriented conditions globally and bilaterally. Together, we will incentivize emission reductions in these carbon-intensive sectors and level the playing field for our workers. The arrangement will be open to all partners demonstrating commitment to countering non-market excess capacity and reducing carbon-intensity in these sectors.”
“We are working together to support countries around the world as they develop their economies to deliver inclusive and resilient growth, while fostering sustainable pathways to net zero emissions as well as boosting the security of global supply chains. Through the G7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, we are identifying opportunities to generate significantly more public and private financing for quality climate and energy security investments in developing countries. We are also advancing an ambitious agenda to evolve the multilateral development banks, starting with the World Bank, to better respond to global challenges like climate change, while also enhancing their work on poverty alleviation.”
“Recognizing our shared history as well as our joint visions for the future, we believe that people to people exchanges strengthen the transatlantic partnership, especially for younger generations. We will discuss how to deepen our cooperation.”
“The United States and the European Union have taken a strong and united stand against Russia’s illegal, unjustifiable, and unprovoked war against Ukraine. We, along with a broad coalition of partners, have imposed swift and sweeping sanctions that are reducing Russia’s revenue to fund its war and its military-industrial base. Putin thought that he would divide us, and yet we are more united than ever. We stand together in our unwavering support for Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
“One year ago, the United States and the European Commission launched a new partnership to rapidly reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels and accelerate Europe’s green transition. This partnership has exceeded our goals, delivering more than double the U.S. liquefied natural gas supplies to Europe than our baseline pledge. We note the significant European efforts to diversify their energy supplies and accelerate the energy transition, which have helped limit the impact of the global energy crisis in Europe. We will continue to work together to advance energy security and sustainability in Europe by diversifying sources, lowering energy consumption, and reducing Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels. We will also continue our close coordination to support Ukraine’s energy security through its further integration into Europe’s energy markets. We will continue our cooperation for stable and balanced global markets and security of supply and step up the clean energy transition globally, including by efforts to reduce methane emissions in the energy sector.”
“We have also taken unprecedented, coordinated, and effective sanctions and other economic measures together to further degrade Russia’s capacity to wage its illegal war and its military-industrial system. We are deepening our joint work to aggressively enforce our sanctions and export control measures and also to end and deter circumvention and backfill, including by expanded authorities to close down Russia’s access to all inputs that can support its war machine. As part of this, we are taking new steps together to target additional third-country actors across the globe to disrupt support for Russia’s war from any corner of the world where it is identified. We are working in lockstep to limit Russian revenue even further while ensuring continued energy supplies to emerging market and developing countries via the G7+ price cap for seaborne Russian-origin crude oil and petroleum products. We will continue to work together to strengthen our economic restrictions to ensure that the costs to Russia of its illegal war continue to grow.”
“The United States and European Union are working to ensure that Ukraine has the security, economic, and humanitarian support it needs for as long as it takes. We have worked together to supply the Ukrainian Armed Forces with the military equipment and training it needs to defend itself from Russian aggression. We, together with Ukraine, are co-chairing the Multi-agency Donor Coordination Platform, and, in line with its European path, are helping advance Ukraine’s reform agenda, laying the foundation for sustainable growth and reconstruction, and ensuring assistance is delivered in a coherent, transparent, and accountable manner. We remain committed to providing and mobilizing international support including from the private sector for Ukraine’s economic and financial stability. We support the International Monetary Fund delivering an ambitious program by end March 2023 to provide necessary budget support to Ukraine throughout and beyond 2023.”
“The United States and the European Union are working to reinforce, through transatlantic cooperation, our essential security interests and the resilience of our economies. We affirm that our cooperation to strengthen our economic security and national security should be rooted in maintaining the rules-based system. We will continue our work through the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council and the G7 and strengthen our bilateral coordination by tasking our Sherpas to formulate key recommendations on economic security by the summer.”
“We will continue work to strengthen our economic security, responding to concrete threats we have identified. The United States and the European Union share concerns about the challenges posed by, among other issues, economic coercion, the weaponization of economic dependencies, and non-market policies and practices. We will continue our work through the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council and the G7 to strengthen coordination with each other and other likeminded partners to diversify our supply chains, and to increase our collective preparedness, resilience, and deterrence to non-market policies and practices and to economic coercion.”
“We are increasing our cooperation to prevent the leakage of sensitive emerging technologies, as well as other dual-use items, to destinations of concern that operate civil-military fusion strategies. Our respective existing controls related to exports, inbound investment, and research cooperation are essential tools and need to be upgraded to correspond to a changing geostrategic environment. We have a common interest in preventing our companies’ capital, expertise, and knowledge from fueling technological advances that will enhance the military and intelligence capabilities of our strategic rivals, including through outbound investment. As we develop and upgrade our toolkit, we will coordinate efforts across the Atlantic to avoid the backfilling of any controlled exports and investments and will continue to share lessons and seek to align our approaches where feasible to maximize the effectiveness of our efforts,” it concludes.
