It was initially meant to be finalised this year, but now EU negotiators
aim rather to conclude the trade pact with the United States in 2016, which
would be “an optimistic scenario”, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said
on Tuesday.
If agreed, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) would
encompass a third of world trade and be the biggest such agreement.
“We will do everything we can to try to finalize during 2016. That’s the
optimistic scenario we’re working on, but it’s possible,” she told reporters.
Following on from a tenth round of talks in July, Malmstrom said she would
meet U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman in Washington in September to
prepare for more talks in October and also in December.
The European Parliament last month effectively gave Malmstrom a mandate to
continue negotiations when it backed a compromise on setting up a new European
court to settle any disputes arising from any trade pact.
Some of Europe’s many opponents to a trade deal with the United States see
it as a threat to EU law and anticipate legal attacks by multinationals,
especially on EU environment and food rules.
Malmstrom said the aim was to set up a new procedure for dispute
resolution.
“We’re going away from private courts, moving away to pre-designed,
pre-selected judges, having more transparency, having a system of appeal,” she
said.
Negotiations on TTIP and a similar agreement with Canada (CETA) have not
been transparent for the last two years. 483 civic organizations and 2,3
million signatures were submitted on Sunday, in a campaign to stop the
negotiations.
Trade unions are concerned that TTIP will lower expectations on working
safety and working conditions. The Stop TTIP campaign argues the deal threatens
democracy and rule of law because it undermines several legal principles that
ensure accountability and infringe upon the legislative mandate. Specifically,
it is feared that TTIP would obstruct the national legislative process, delay
legislation, or cause the EU to relinquish the precautionary principle.
(with AP,
Reuters)
http://www.neurope.eu/article/eu-hopes-to-conclude-trade-pact-with-us-next-year/