Overview
A bridge between two houses
Members of Parliament's D-US Delegation have been meeting their counterparts in the US House of Representatives to discuss matters of common interest on a regular basis since 1972.
This inter-parliamentary relationship is one of the longest and most intensive in the history of the European Parliament. It was expanded in 1999 following the official launch of the TLD.
At that point, the TLD constituted the formal response by the European Parliament and the US Congress to the commitment of the New Transatlantic Agenda of 1995 to enhance parliamentary ties between the EU and the US.
The TLD was founded on the principle that EU-US relations extend far beyond foreign policy or trade issues and encompass multiple other policy fields, such as economic and financial policy, energy and climate policy, data protection and the digital economy, counter-terrorism and cyber security.
Respective legislation in these areas can often have an effect on the other side of the Atlantic, be this intentional or unintentional. The aim of the dialogue is to maintain policy-oriented cooperation in all these areas, but especially where the two Houses have responsibility as legislators.
In a broader sense, the TLD also covers the work of parliamentary committees and their direct exchanges with counterparts across the Atlantic, with a view to fostering an ongoing uninterrupted dialogue.
This inter-parliamentary relationship is one of the longest and most intensive in the history of the European Parliament. It was expanded in 1999 following the official launch of the TLD.
At that point, the TLD constituted the formal response by the European Parliament and the US Congress to the commitment of the New Transatlantic Agenda of 1995 to enhance parliamentary ties between the EU and the US.
The TLD was founded on the principle that EU-US relations extend far beyond foreign policy or trade issues and encompass multiple other policy fields, such as economic and financial policy, energy and climate policy, data protection and the digital economy, counter-terrorism and cyber security.
Respective legislation in these areas can often have an effect on the other side of the Atlantic, be this intentional or unintentional. The aim of the dialogue is to maintain policy-oriented cooperation in all these areas, but especially where the two Houses have responsibility as legislators.
In a broader sense, the TLD also covers the work of parliamentary committees and their direct exchanges with counterparts across the Atlantic, with a view to fostering an ongoing uninterrupted dialogue.
1999 Joint Statement on Establishment of TLD
The delegations of the European Parliament and the US House of Representatives agreed to launch the Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue (TLD) at the 50th interparliamentary meeting on 15th and 16th January 1999 in Strasbourg. The following statement was adopted: Taking the existing interparliamentary relationship as its basis, the aim of the TLD will be to strengthen and enhance the level of discourse between European and American legislators. It will do so against the background of the numerous other contacts that have grown up over the past few years that have resulted in a significantly closer EU-US relationship at a variety of levels (and which include the bi-annual EU-US summit meetings established by the Transatlantic Declaration of 1990, the Transatlantic Business Dialogue, the Transatlantic Policy Network, and other initiatives). The TLD will constitute the formal response of the European Parliament and the US Congress to the commitment in the New Transatlantic Agenda (NTA) to enhanced parliamentary ties between the European Union and the United States.
In practical terms, the TLD will continue to include two annual meetings of delegations. But with a view to transforming these regular meetings into an ongoing and uninterrupted dialogue, additional contacts will be established. These will include:
In practical terms, the TLD will continue to include two annual meetings of delegations. But with a view to transforming these regular meetings into an ongoing and uninterrupted dialogue, additional contacts will be established. These will include:
- a series of teleconferences, held between regular meetings of the delegations. This will serve to enable members to bring each other up to date on pending and topical issues. Responsibility for organizing and financing the conference will be shared on an alternating basis between the two institutions;
- the appointment, on each side, of committee liaison persons; these persons would be delegation members who sit on those committees in their respective legislatures concerned with issues of mutual interest and concern. Their job would be to maintain permanent contact with their opposite numbers in connection with matters being discussed or proposed at committee level that are of special interest to the two delegations (examples might be questions related to narcotics, terrorism, agricultural trade, data protection, etc.). Where issues are identified as having a possible impact on the other side, each party would be able to intervene at an early stage;
- the setting up of a dedicated website, on which all relevant draft legislation containing measures of interest to either party will be posted as and when it becomes available, together with the relevant committee and plenary timetables for dealing with such legislation; this will promote knowledge amongst legislators on both sides of the Atlantic of each others' current and future activities in the legislative field and facilitate timely intervention if called for;
- twice yearly contacts, on each side, with members of the Senior Level Group (SLG) responsible for preparing the summits. Each legislature, through its delegation and in consultation with one another, would bring to the notice of the SLG issues considered to require special attention by the Executives at their summit meetings. This would allow the two legislatures to have an indirect influence on the summit process.