Promise of a New Day
As world leaders congratulate President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, the EU and constituent Member States have joined in, responding positively to the 2020 election outcome.
This week, the European Commission President von der Leyen gave a compelling speech on a renewed EU-US alliance particularly focused on strengthening bilateral and multilateral partnerships.
President von der Leyen primarily focused on the need to rebuild international coalitions and a transatlantic agenda that is suited for today’s world. We couldn’t agree more with her approach, covering security, sustainability, tech regulation, trade, and strengthening global institutions.
However these are the three issues that will take priority at the beginning of the Biden-Harris administration and also have long-lasting impacts, globally:
Covid-19
Climate Change
Digital Transformation
Coronavirus Response
The EU organised a global response to coronavirus, convening more than 40 countries to collectively raise over €16 billion in scientific funding.
President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have announced this week that they will move the US Covid-19 pandemic response in a dramatically different direction than the current administration, focused on evidence-based guidance.
Climate and Biodiversity Issues
The US and Europe have shared values and shared interests related to sustainability, tech regulation, trade, and democracy. A Biden-Harris Administration promises a renewal of bilateral and multinational relationships, and is an exciting time not only for America, but for the rest of the world.
Europe aims to be the first climate-neutral continent in the world by 2050 - they are joined in this ambition by Japan, South Africa and China, who aims to reach this target by 2060. The President-elect has committed to rejoining the Paris agreement, which is a welcome collaborative response to climate change.
Digital
President von der Leyen accurately stated in her speech that “Online platforms have gained a huge influence and economic power. Their behaviour has an impact not only on free and fair competition among businesses, but also on our democracies, on our security, and on the quality of our information. This immense power requires adequate rules.”
This growing digital and political chasm is manifesting itself in the US post-election with the proliferation of ultra conservative social networking sites that spread misinformation and conspiracy theories. We are also seeing mainstream media moving away from the current Administration. With this comes an exodus of Mr. Trump’s followers from more mainstream channels like Facebook and Twitter to alternative news sites and social networking sites.
To this end, the EU is proposing to reform its Digital Services Act to tackle hate speech and terrorist propaganda while still protecting free speech.
It is also taking on Big Tech with its Digital Markets Act, setting out tools to protect fair competition and innovation in Europe.
These regulations will be models for reining in Big Tech, data use and privacy, and fair taxation for the rest of the world.
It will be interesting to see the outcomes of the COP26 Glasgow, COP15 on biodiversity Kunming, China - as well as how the EU Digital Services and Markets regulations impact big tech in the US and internationally.
