He said he’s seen goodwill on both sides to find common ground throughout 2021.
“There’s been a sea change,” he said.
These were important milestones but don’t tell the full story.
Where Europe leads, will the US follow?
It’s not as though time stood still in Europe during this era.
It was part of a decade-long overhaul of digital rules.
Both have been years in making.
“The sophistication of Europe’s approach has been driven by a decade-plus of debate,” Barker said.
It also cemented the idea among European leaders that regulation holding tech platforms to account was overdue.
Theproposalwas an attempt to rally a coalition of democracies around shared principles for an open web.
Same room, same page?
Not so fast
Joint efforts to bring countries together have been more successful.
But gathering people together in one room is just one step.
Getting them to see eye to eye is another.
One such roadblock is a differing stance on privacy.
Sherman said the US is losing out by not having its own comprehensive federal privacy law.
That’s unlikely to happen, but a compromise is entirely possible, Sherman said.
The EU also is hoping to get the US on the same page regarding antitrust.
This plurality of views is hardly unique to the US.
Key figures within the EU also occasionally butt heads.
These domestic disputes may even take longer to resolve than the high-level discussions happening internationally.
But ultimately, their historic loyalty to one another and desire to get along will likely see them through.
They do have shared interests – finding common ground on relations with China, for example.
The US would be wise not to frame its entire tech agenda around China, Sherman said.
It reinforces the idea that US tech policy is purely reactive, rather than proactive.
But having a common rival undoubtedly brings Europe and the US together.
Even at the end of the year, things are changing fast.
