Town Hall with Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commission
Last week, during our Town Hall meeting for members, we connected with Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President for an Economy that works for People, European Commission.
The Executive Vice-President shared his insights on the COVID-19 emergency and highlighted that national lockdowns are affecting world trade, hitting the transatlantic supply chains as well as EU-US trade investment flows and that open markets and trade opportunities are the best way to revitalise the economy following the COVID-19 health crisis.
Further on the issue of trade, he stressed that resolving bilateral trade disputes has become even more urgent against the COVID-19 landscape. You can read his full remarks here.
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Making the case for the transatlantic relationship in Washington, DC
From Monday, 28 September to Thursday, 1 October 2026, AmCham EU led a delegation of members to Washington, DC to bring the views of the business community to policymakers in Congress and the administration. Discussions showed that both sides value the stability the Turnberry framework agreement brings. While parts of the agreement remain to be implemented, meetings pointed to the possibility for cooperation on economic security. Implementation will continue to need dialogue between the two sides, which is expected to carry on after the mid-term elections.
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Building trust without slowing innovation
At RAID 2026, Thibaut L’Ortye, Chief Policy and Public Affairs Officer, AmCham EU joined a panel discussion on EU-US regulatory approaches to technology. Taking place on Tuesday, 29 September 2026, the discussion explored how transatlantic cooperation can focus on shared outcomes rather than identical rulebooks, including on cybersecurity, AI safety, consumer protection and resilient supply chains. Mr L’Ortye also highlighted the wider conditions needed to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness.
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Closing the gap between customs and VAT rules
The reform of the Union Customs Code changes who is treated as the ‘importer’ when a non-EU company uses an indirect customs representative. That creates a problem under the EU VAT Directive, which links import VAT deduction to being identified as the importer or consignee. In practice, the non-EU company may no longer meet that requirement, while the customs representative may not qualify for the deduction either.
That could leave import VAT irrecoverable and create uncertainty for businesses using established import models. The Commission should ensure that the non-EU principal can still be identified in customs data for VAT purposes and fix the mismatch between the UCC and the VAT Directive.
Learn more about what changes are needed to keep import VAT deductibility workable under the new customs framework.
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