Brussels, 18/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - Preliminary discussions for EU/US free trade negotiations are making progress but no decision has been made for their launch this spring.
In a reply to a question asked on Wednesday 17 October regarding that possible launch in spring 2013 of transatlantic free negotiations for a free-trade agreement, the US representative for trade, Ron Kirk, proved elusive and refused to comment on speculation regarding recent declarations from official sources. He would only confirm that, “We are still committed to the principle of a high-standard engagement ... We have basic principles that we want to accomplish, and we are still working with them to see if we can get there”, which seemed to suggest that no objective nor timetable had been set out.
The US representative for trade and his European counterpart, Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht, are expected to hand in the final report, which examined the possible scope of negotiations for a free-trade agreement, to the leaders in 2013. The workgroup headed by De Gucht and Kirk provided its initial conclusions on 19 June last (see EUROPE 10640). De Gucht has expressed his wish on several occasions to begin an 18-month period of negotiations at the beginning of 2013. (EH/transl.fl)