Created in 1999, the TLD aims to strengthen cooperation between the European Union and the United States in a range of areas beyond foreign policy.
Sophie Wilmès, Vice-President of the Delegation in charge of relations with the United States (DUS), took part in the 89th edition, held in Fort Worth, Texas.
Here are the official conclusions:
We, the members of the European Parliament and the U.S. House of Representatives, met on the
8 and 9 November 2024 in the city of Fort Worth, Texas for the 89th Inter-Parliamentary Meeting of the Transatlantic Legislators’ Dialogue (TLD). For decades, the transatlantic alliance has been the cornerstone of American and European national security and a force multiplier for preserving the rules-based international order. Against the backdrop of an evolving geopolitical landscape and the aftermath of important elections in both Europe and the United States, we met to address the challenges posed to our alliance and reaffirm our alliance’s importance for securing peace and prosperity and supporting democracy, the rule of law and freedom around the globe.
As was the case in April, we maintain our determination to ensure resilient supply chains, the protection of our physical and cyber infrastructures, and the coordination of our export controls. We will collectively protect sensitive technology affecting our security and fight any sort of economic coercion from rival powers. This includes efforts to harmonize enforcement and coordination of our export control regimes. We are committed to a human-centric development and deployment of artificial intelligence across the Atlantic that allow our societies to benefit from its large opportunities while ensuring that human rights and democratic values are preserved. Recognizing the potential for malign actors to use AI to supercharge their hostile actions, including in cyberspace, we must invest heavily in cybersecurity, using AI to strengthen our cyberdefense and more quickly detect and react to cyberattacks. We must strengthen our digital cooperation, also in the framework of the Trade and Technology Council. We recognize and commit to address critical workforce shortages in the realms of cybersecurity. Our countries must train a new generation of cybersecurity and AI experts to ensure that we are prepared to meet the threats of today and tomorrow. Our cyber and AI training should include not just conventional universities, but also vocational schools and non-traditional forms of learning.
We condemn in the strongest terms Russia’s illegal, unjustified and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine, and we honor the memory of the thousands of innocent Ukrainians civilians who have been killed by indiscriminate attacks on residential buildings, Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and civilian targets, including hospitals, schools and places of worship. We also remember the thousands of Ukrainian soldiers in this conflict who have sacrificed life and limb in the legitimate defence of their country, Europe, and our shared values: freedom, democracy, independence, and sovereignty. We also pledge not to forget about the unlawful deportation of tens of thousands of Ukrainian children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia, which constitutes a war crime. We underline the need to continue delivering on all commitments made in support of Ukraine including the provision of military equipment. We therefore welcome the finalisation of the extraordinary loans of up to €35 billion to Ukraine by the E.U. and $20 billion by the U.S., to be repaid with future revenues from frozen Russian assets. We stress our support to international efforts in pursuit of effective accountability for the crimes committed by Russia and moving towards comprehensive, just and lasting peace. We continue to stress the need to maintain and further strengthen Transatlantic cooperation and determination in responding to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
We call for robust multilateral actions to undermine Russia’s war effort, including the imposition of strong sanctions on third countries who aid Russia’s war machine. China must step up as a responsible global power by ceasing its enormous exports of dual-use goods to Russia that are fueling Russia’s war machine and working to immediately halt North Korea’s further deployment of troops to Russia against Ukraine. Lastly, we condemn the illegitimate regime of Aleksandr Lukashenka in Belarus, who has enabled Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine every step of the way. Russia and its key enablers must not be allowed to succeed. A Russian victory in Ukraine would embolden Putin and other would-be conquerors, ushering in a much darker world for our citizens for the foreseeable future.
We strongly condemn all levels of adversarial support for the Russian war effort and we urge our respective governments to take stronger actions to sever these malign relationships. We also believe that Ukraine must be permitted to use Western-provided long-range weapons systems on legitimate military targets inside Russian territory. We further urge our governments to redouble their efforts to facilitate Ukraine’s smooth transition and successful adoption of advanced Western fighter aircraft.
We remain committed to supporting like-minded countries wishing to join the European Union (EU) and embrace the core values of the transatlantic alliance. In the Republic of Moldova, the recent re-election of President Sandu and the country’s recent approval of a constitutional referendum to enshrine the EU integration goal in its Constitution, despite massive Russian interference in the election season, are very positive developments for Moldova’s journey towards European integration. We welcome the progress made in EU accession negotiations by Ukraine and Western Balkan countries.
However, we remain deeply concerned about the situation in Georgia. Echoing numerous statements by EU and U.S. officials over the past several years, we believe that the Georgian government’s actions are pulling the country away from the path of Transatlantic integration. We note that Georgia’s parliamentary elections on October 26, 2024 were marred by a tense and polarised pre-election environment and numerous reports of irregularities on election day.
75 years after it was created, NATO has proven to be the most reliable and successful military security alliance, and the cornerstone of the security of citizens on both sides of the Atlantic. We welcome that Allies are now delivering on the Madrid and Vilnius Summit decisions to modernise NATO for a new era of collective defence and more than two-thirds of NATO allies are fulfilling their commitment of spending at least 2% of GDP annually on defence. We welcome the further strengthening of NATO’s defences, the robust new military plans, more forces at higher readiness, the strengthening of defence partnership-building on the EU’s Strategic Compass and NATO’s Strategic Concept;and the major increases in defence investment. We believe that further increases in defence investments are necessary for the alliance to meet and overcome the challenges of today and the foreseeable future. Lastly, we reiterate our commitment to NATO’s Open Door policy and believe that aspirant countries which meet the necessary requirements should be welcomed into the alliance.
We are deeply concerned about the ongoing military conflict in the Middle East, the humanitarian situation and the continuous destabilization of the region following the vicious Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, and the ongoing wars in Gaza and Lebanon. We call for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages in Gaza and a timely cessation of violence, leading to an enduring resolution of the conflict. We call for the unhindered access and sustained distribution of properly vetted humanitarian assistance at scale to the civilian population throughout Gaza. We call for the revival of the Middle East Peace process, to provide a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike. In Lebanon, we support full enforcement of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, including the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, so that there will be no weapons or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese State. We condemn the Iran-backed Houthis’ ongoing attacks including those targeting international shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, which have killed mariners and disrupted trade, and we remain deeply alarmed by the Houthis’ taking of hostages and interference in the international community’s ability to deliver humanitarian aid. We call for ever-closer coordination between the E.U. and the U.S. to preserve the freedom of navigation and to deter threats emanating from the region and to help de-escalate the situation and reduce tension. We also call for the EU and US to cooperate with regional partners, including Israel, on a politically viable ‘Day After’.
Both sides furthermore commit to work in a spirit of compromise to avoid any further escalations of economic tensions between them and seek concrete ways to address and resolve transatlantic differences and ensure lasting solutions to all transatlantic trade irritants. We further welcome initiatives under the Trade and Technology Council, that enhances transparency with regard to our respective activities promoting renewable energies incentives and in addressing the environmental challenges. We express our full support for continued U.S.- EU cooperation within the U.S.-EU Energy Council as well as the Task Force on Energy Security.
Additionally, the EU and the U.S. are the world’s first and second largest agricultural traders, respectively. The U.S. is a major destination for several high-value EU products, and vice versa. We remain committed to expanding agricultural trade and cooperation and working to avoid trade frictions or the creation of additional barriers. The global impacts of Russia’s weaponization of its grain exports and the systematic targeting of Ukraine’s agricultural and port infrastructure underscore our shared responsibility in ensuring Russia’s strategic defeat in Ukraine and our combined role in Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction. We support the revitalization of Ukraine’s agricultural industry through the reconstruction of its infrastructure and demining efforts and support its vital role in global food security as a major agricultural exporter.
With the 2024 elections behind us, we take pride in knowing that the key pillars of our democracies remain strong, for there is no greater testament to the ideals of the free world than the holding of regular, free, and fair elections. Strong parliaments are a backbone of every democracy, assuring democratic legitimacy of lawmaking and thorough scrutiny of the executive. We are now committed to play our respective roles in the transition phase, where new U.S. and EU administrations are put in place, responsibly exercising our duty of scrutiny, oversight and transparency. We will not tolerate the attempts of malign actors to divide our countries internally and cause divisions between us as partners.
Our common values are worth defending for the future of our free, democratic, and prosperous societies. Together we are strong, and together we will face all these challenges head on. And together, we will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, the ideals of freedom.