The EU’s Chief Negotiator for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) said the mammoth EU-US trade deal is not about deregulation, as a third round of talks wrapped up in Washington on December 20.
Chief European Union Negotiator Ignacio Garcia-Bercero(L) and Chief US Negotiator Dan Mullaney speak to the media at the closing of the third Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) negotiating round, December 20, 2013.
“I think we can be very satisfied by the end of this third round of talks. We remain on track to deliver an ambitious trade and investment deal which will boost our economies, deliver growth and, more importantly, create jobs for both Europeans and Americans at a time when they're most needed,” said Ignacio Garcia Bercero.
The EU's Chief Negotiator added “I am again stressing that any deal would uphold the highest standards of consumer, environment, health and labour protection."
Apart from negotiating with each other, the EU and US teams also spent one of their five days together talking to over 50 stakeholders and answering questions from them.
A Commission statement says this followed unprecedented efforts by the EU to negotiate as openly as possible and reach out to the widest possible range of interests.
According to the statement, negotiators made progress on the three core parts of the TTIP – market access, regulatory aspects and rules – and these will be the focus for the round of talks expected in March 2014.
On market access, the EU says it repeated its determination to stay ambitious on all three aspects. It wants to slash customs tariffs on imported goods; allow firms from either side to bid for government procurement contracts; and open up services markets and make it easier to invest.
Negotiators also discussed regulations which protect people from risks to their health, safety, environment, financial and data security. Studies suggest up to 80% of the gains from any future EU-US trade deal would come from improvements in this area.
EU negotiators now expect to start working with their US counterparts by March 2014 on the wording of provisions designed to make it easier to comply with each other's existing rules, and to enable regulators to work together more closely in future when drafting new rules. Such provisions would include rules on food safety and animal and plant health (sanitary and phytosanitary issues). They would also cover technical regulations and product standards, and testing and certification procedures - so-called technical barriers to trade or 'TBTs'.
Negotiators also expect to be able to identify a roadmap of areas where the TTIP could bring real savings to consumers and businesses by avoiding having to pay twice over to meet two sets of regulations.
The press release says that Garcia Bercero “was at pains to point out” that the "TTIP is not and will not be a deregulation agenda." He said neither side intended to lower its high standards of consumer, environment, health, labour or data protection, or limit its autonomy in setting regulations.
The third area negotiators discussed was trade-related rules in several areas, which could provide a real boost to EU-US trade. These include measures to ensure: free and fair competition between firms; access to energy and raw materials; the protection of people's rights at work, and the environment; and less red tape when importing or exporting (trade facilitation) – for example, easier access to information on customs regulations, and simpler customs procedures.
In a majority of these areas, the EU now expects to start discussing the wording of proposals by March 2014. The EU hopes such rules will deliver real and improved benefits for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular, and envisages a specific chapter in the agreement focusing on SMEs.
According to an EU-commissioned study by the independent Centre for Economic Policy Research in London, an ambitious, comprehensive TTIP could bring the EU economic gains of €120 billion a year once fully implemented. It could see EU exports to the US rise by over 25%, earning its exporters of goods and services an extra €190 billion every year. On average, the agreement will bring an extra €545 in disposable income each year for a family of four living in the EU.
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