CEE’s Green Transition within the EU-US Agenda

The move away from the carbon economy offers many avenues for progress, but also increases the likelihood of a developmental divide in Europe. Overcoming these challenges for Central and Eastern Europe could leave them vulnerable to increased influence from China, an outcome with unequal assessment from the EU and US.

The recent EU-US Summit was designed to renew the transatlantic relationship. It failed however to address the elephant in the room: how will the EU and US actually align their economic transition towards a green and sustainable model?

The trade dispute settlement is a far cry from what was supposed to be a transformative, future-ready agenda. Similarly, the Leader Summit on Climate came as a show of diplomatic force, but little in the way of an actual engagement towards a multilateral economic transition.

Same transition, different directions

For now, each side of the Atlantic seems to be preparing its own climate action plan. And while the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, is circling the globe in pursuit of multilateral support for meaningful commitments ahead of COP27, it seems like the transatlantic link on climate action is simply taken for granted. With the desire for deeper cooperation on the two sides of the Atlantic, a shared economic vision might be a necessary ingredient.