The relationship between the European Union and the United States dates back to the genesis of the European project, and US support for post-war European cooperation efforts marked the start of a close relationship. Diplomatic relations were established in 1953 between the then European Coal and Steel Community and the US, and in 1990 the Transatlantic Declaration was issued, which forms the basis of present-day EU – US cooperation. Currently, the EU and the US have the largest bilateral trade relationship of any two entities anywhere in the world, and their combined economic output accounts for almost half of global totals. The negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) mark a new stage in cooperation and, if concluded, will result in even deeper economic relations.

The links between the European Movement and the US date back just as long: to the beginnings of European integration and in particular to the 1948 Congress of Europe in The Hague; the early efforts of the European Movement to further European integration were supported by the United States. In May 2013 the European Movement organised a study trip to the United States to look at ways to reinvigorate this relationship. On the eve of the official launch of the TTIP negotiations, the representatives of the European Movement met with various American stakeholders, to discuss the implications of the prospective trade agreement on civil society in Europe.