Our first common interest is to join forces for a more peaceful, stable and prosperous world.

Our shared values include our commitment to defend democracy, pluralism and human rights, especially in times of insecurity and crisis. Across the world, our international partners expect us to listen, act and jointly address these challenges.

This Friday 20^th October, the Presidents of the European Council Charles Michel, the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and High Representative/Vice-President Borrell will be in Washington for the EU-US summit, alongside Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis and Vice-President Jourová. This will be the second EU-US Summit with United States President Joe Biden, two years after the June 2021 Summit.

The Summit will address several of our existing shared priorities:

Unprecedented EU-US cooperation in response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine

What is at stake in Ukraine is our vision of the world, a world which does not accept that the UN Charter is day-after-day violated by a permanent Member of the United Security Council, Russia, that has made the UN family dysfunctional. Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are at stake as well.

Our joint response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has delivered exceptional support to Ukraine and its people, in all its facets. Overall, the EU and the US have provided more than €150 billion in military, financial and emergency support to Ukraine since 2022, of which the EU has provided more than €82.5 billion. We will sustain support for Ukraine as long as it takes, aiming towards a just and lasting peace, based on President Zelenskyy’s Peace Formula, and helping Ukraine to advance on the EU accession path.

Furthermore, the EU and the US have been working jointly on addressing the global consequences of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The EU and the US  are addressing global humanitarian and food security challenges ensuing from Russia’s aggression, through initiatives such as the Solidarity Lanes.

Looking ahead, we are working together to help Ukraine reconstruct through the Multi-Agency Donor Coordination platform for Ukraine, established on 12 December 2022. We have also spearheaded a multilateral outreach to global partners to build broad support for full accountability for all crimes committed.

Work together for peace and security

The summit will provide an opportunity for the European Union and the United States to reiterate that they condemn in the strongest possible terms Hamas and its brutal and indiscriminate terrorist attacks across Israel, and deeply deplore the loss of lives. There is no justification for terror. We  support Israel’s right to defend itself in line with humanitarian and international law. We further reiterate the importance of ensuring the protection of civilians in line with international humanitarian law. We need to step up the political efforts to stop the cycle of violence and resolve a longstanding conflict with a lasting peace based on the two-state solution.

Foreign policy in support of a multilateral rules-based order

The EU and the US have a clear vision to promote shared values, stability peace and prosperity, and in this way to strengthen the security of EU and US citizens alike. This partnership is essential for both sides of the Atlantic and provides a vital framework to share perspectives and achieve convergence in our respective strategies towards the Indo-Pacific region and China, as well as on the Western Balkans, South Caucasus, the Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and on multilateral cooperation.

We believe that only effective multilateralism rooted in the UN Charter can deliver the results that respond to our global partners’ needs. The EU and the US provide 80% of the world’s development assistance and account for over 70% of the world’s humanitarian funding, meaning that we are the world’s largest development and humanitarian donors. Furthermore, the EU and the US have pledged, with partners, to mobilise up to $600 billion in additional public and private funds to finance sustainable investments through the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) and the EU’s Global Gateway.

Our belief in multilateralism also translates into a commitment to reform the multilateral development banks (MDBs) and the international financial institutions (IFIs). Reform of the Global Financial Architecture is high on both the EU and US agendas. We need to generate more capacity to address global challenges while preserving existing support for those most in need, including by further mobilising the private sector. Making the most efficient use of existing resources to get better banks is a priority. Countries need to escape a cycle of crisis and recovery. They need space to invest in a sustainable future.

We have also intensified our joint cooperation on countering malign disinformation operations and Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI), including with other like-minded partners. FIMI is a global threat to security, democracy and human rights.

Trade and technology for the future

Together, the EU and the US share the most comprehensive and dynamic economic relationship in the world. The figures speak for themselves: the EU and the US are each other’s main trading partner and the largest investors in each other’s economies. Totalling €1.5 trillion in 2022 and 29% of global trade in goods and services, transatlantic trade is key for the global economy. Foreign affiliates of EU and US companies directly employ around 10 million people. A fundamental forum for our partnership is the EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC), established at the last Summit on 21 June 2021. Over four high-level meetings, the TTC has become a key venue for bilateral coordination on global trade and on economic and technology issues, including sanctions on Russia and the promotion of a human-centred approach to Artificial Intelligence that would both reap its benefits and address risks. The positive momentum in transatlantic trade relations is also illustrated by the commitment by both sides to reach a political agreement to turn the page on long lasting trade irritants on tariffs for steel and aluminium, and to address critical minerals.

Joint actions on climate and energy

As the world is not on track to address the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, we need to do more. In view of COP28, the EU and the US urge ambitious action by the other major players and call on all countries to join forces to make every effort to keep the 1.5°C limit on global temperature warming within reach. The EU-US High-Level Climate Action Group, established after the 2021 Summit, has raised our bilateral climate coordination to unprecedented levels, as reflected in our joint spearheading of the Global Methane Pledge, currently endorsed by 150 countries.

Energy cooperation is another core layer of our partnership that has gained momentum, in particular given our shared goal of accelerating the energy transition to a climate neutral future by 2050. The EU and the US also have stepped up cooperation on energy security to reduce the EU’s reliance on Russian energy by working to reduce overall demand diversify and diversify energy supplies, including by doubling US LNG exports to Europe to replace Russian gas.

Engaging with Younger Generations

People-to-people exchanges, especially for younger generations, are both the bedrock and the future of the transatlantic partnership. So far more than 7,200 higher education students and staff from EU and US universities have benefited from Erasmus+ exchange opportunities on the other side of the Atlantic. Ahead of the summit, both the EU and the US have increased their contributions to the Fulbright-Schuman programme, and many other programmes exist to facilitate exchanges.

At today's summit, we expect to consolidate and deepen our joint action on the common challenges we face and on our shared goal of contributing to a more peaceful, more prosperous, more equal and more inclusive world for our own citizens and those of other countries.