Roundup: MEPs give greenlight to further TTIP negotiations

The European Parliament (EP) finally approved Wednesday its recommendations to European Commission (EC) officials negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the United States.

In June, the vote on the recommendations was suspended after the EP's two major political groups, the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) and centre-left Socialists & Democrats (S&D), failed to agree the final text.

But a compromise was reached allowing the recommendations to be put to Parliament which voted in favor by 436 votes to 241, with 32 abstentions.

At a press conference after the vote, the rapporteur, German Socialist MEP (member of EP) Bernd Lange, said he was delighted that the EP had achieved a positive result, adding that MEPs had sent a clear signal to EC negotiators as to what can and cannot be negotiated in the trade pact.

Lange said the TTIP negotiations could now proceed safe in the knowledge that issues such as cultural diversity, data protection standards, workers' rights and environmental protection would not be watered down to suit the final agreement, which could be ready by 2017-2018.

A compromise wording on investor-state dispute resolution tools, hammered out by political groups in long and tense negotiations and inserted in the text with 447 votes in favor, 229 against and 30 abstentions, calls for a new justice system to replace the controversial "investor state dispute settlement" (ISDS), which relies on private arbitration and are common in trade deals.

The new system should be "subject to democratic principles and scrutiny," MEPs insisted, in which cases are handled "in a transparent manner", by publicly appointed, independent professional judges and in public hearings. It should also include an appellate mechanism, respect the jurisdiction of EU and member state courts and ensure that private interests "cannot undermine public policy objectives", the text states.

Among the provisions MEPs want to see in the final TTIP agreement is the removal of U.S. restrictions on foreign ownership of transport services and airlines, improved EU access to America's giant telecommunications markets and a "significant opening" of the U.S. public procurement market at all levels of government. At the same time, high levels of protection for EU consumer data, and health and safety must be guaranteed, they added.

MEPs also stressed that public services must be excluded from the scope of the deal, and there should be special treatment for "sensitive agricultural and industrial products." Mutual recognition of equivalent standards is another demand. However, the approved text stresses that there can be "no agreement" in areas where the U.S. standards are "very different", e.g. authorization of chemicals, genetically modified food and crops, use of hormones in the cattle sector, cloning or endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

The tenth round of the TTIP negotiations is scheduled for 13-17 July 2015 in Brussels. But, it remains to be seen how U.S. negotiators will respond to the MEPs demands.

America also has powerful lobbies -- for example, in agriculture -- that are just as keen to shield their markets from foreign competition. And U.S. policy makers could point to the sometimes painfully slow progress in allowing cross-border freedom of trade even between EU member states. In parts of the EU, some sectors, like financial services or rail transport, are still all but closed to companies from other EU countries.

But at least Wednesday's vote enables the TTIP negotiating process to clear a significant hurdle.

A comprehensive trade deal with the U.S. could benefit the economies of EU countries to the tune of 120 billion euros (132 billion U.S. dollars) -- that is an average 545 euros in extra disposable income for a family of four each year, according to European Conservatives and Reformists trade spokesperson Emma McClarkin.

"This deal can bring us the growth that Europe so desperately needs by cutting red tape and reducing tariffs, allowing businesses of all sizes to flourish in a truly open marketplace," she stated following the vote. "TTIP will also be good news for the consumers of Europe, who will be able to choose from a wider range of products at a cheaper price."

"Other parts of the world are making progress while Europe lags behind. As one of the world's biggest economies, Europe should be leading the global trade agenda, not be led by it. I hope that with Parliament's support for TTIP now officially on record a swift and successful conclusion of the negotiations can now be reached," she said. Endit