Russia’s war in Ukraine reminds us that the post-WWII world order built on rules-based shared values and open markets can no longer be taken for granted. These events should  be a wake-up call for the EU, the U.S. (and their like-minded partners) that we need to do more to defend these shared values.

 

Against an already turbulent backdrop of global inflation and disrupted supply chains following the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing threat of climate change, the war is also exacerbating those tensions and further threatening economic growth.

 

What is clear in this context, is that we need transatlantic global leadership now more than ever: such challenges cannot be faced by each side alone. Open transatlantic trade and technology partnerships, embodied by the EU-U.S. Trade and Tech Council (TTC), can help the EU and the U.S. charter a common path to drive technological innovation, economic growth and job creation, generate the trust and resilience that our interconnected economy needs, as well as create solutions for the energy transition.

 

Ahead of the second ministerial meetings of the TTC in Paris Saclay, France this weekend, we hope to see more concrete actions coming out of the TTC, with the overarching goal that the EU and the U.S.—and the values they share—must forge global technology rules. 

 

That is why IBM has sent an open letter to the TTC together with Ericsson, HP, Microsoft, Nokia, Salesforce, SAP, and Schneider Electric, calling policy makers on both sides of the Atlantic to seize this opportunity by focusing on the most pressing issues and overcoming their differences.

 

Read the full Open Letter here:

 

Christopher Padilla

Vice President, Government and Regulatory Affairs, IBM

 

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