Remarks by Commissioner Šefčovič at the press conference following the joint informal Competitiveness and Foreign Affairs Council meeting

European Commission -Speech [Check Against Delivery] Remarks by Commissioner Šefčovič at the press conference following the joint informal Competitiveness and Foreign Affairs Council meeting Warsaw, 4 February 2025 Good afternoon and thank you for your hospitality. It's been a pleasure to have our discussions in the beautiful city of Warsaw – and I wish the Polish Presidency a successful term, especially given the global geopolitical uncertainty. Let me begin with the topic I know is most on your radar – the relationship between the European Union and the United States. While I will not speculate on what might be, I want to state clearly that the transatlantic partnership is of strategic importance. No other two economies in the world are as integrated as we are. And on both sides of the Atlantic, we benefit fully from this unique bond – there is nothing unfair in it. You have already heard me say that: While the EU has a surplus of EUR 154 billion in goods vis-a-vis the US, the US has a surplus in services of EUR 104 billion as regards the EU. This means the overall EU trade surplus towards the US is only some 3% of our total trade flow of EUR 1.5 trillion, so around EUR 50 billion. To put this into perspective, those figures reflect the specialisation of our respective economies and consumer preferences. And let's not forget that more than EUR 4 billion of goods and services cross the Atlantic daily, while over EUR 5 trillion is cross invested in our...