The EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Technology Council: Shifting Multilateralism Through Bilateralism and Institutions?

The European Union (‘EU’)-United States (‘US’) Trade and Technology Council (‘TTC’) is a key element of current global law-making in trade and technology, however imperfect it might be. Its soft law structures and formulations contrast considerably with certain developments in EU data governance, but it aligns well with broader new regimes in international economic law. This chapter considers the relationship between bilateralism and multilateralism in the field of trade and technology taking place in light of the new EU-US TTC recently taking effect. It considers a history of transatlantic failures in cooperation, the history of law and governance in EU-US relations in trade and technology and the evolution of the TTC, followed by a series of conclusions. The TTC raises the question as to the place of bilateralism and multilateralism in the complex transatlantic relationship spanning many decades. It forms a unique study of considerable global law-making ambitions and objectives in contemporary times, against a fraught backdrop of complex transnational cooperation. Yet the context of transatlantic relations, itself a rich tapestry of innovations in the area of data transfers between two of the largest global players in trade and technology, may lend the case study of the TTC more gravitas and significance than other forms of bilateralism.