Brussels, 12/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - The 27 European Union member states are due to approve (or not) the mandate to be given to the European Commission for negotiating a free-trade agreement with Washington.
United States. For their second formal meeting under the Irish Presidency of the Council of Ministers, European trade ministers will have much to do in Luxembourg on Friday 14 June. They are due to approve the mandate by consensus that will be given to European Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht to negotiate the transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP) agreement which will cover tariff liberalisation for agricultural and industrial products, the liberalisation for trade in services, investment, public procurement, regulatory convergence and the removal of non-tariff barriers, competition rules, sustainable development and the environment, and intellectual property. The Commission submitted its draft mandate in mid-March. Its proposal includes a recommendation for a Council decision authorising the opening of the negotiations, with the negotiating directives set out in the annex, and a decision of the EU member states authorising the Commission to negotiate, on their behalf, the TTIP arrangements which go beyond the remit of the EU. The Presidency presented a revised draft of the negotiating directives on 29 May. The issue causing suspense is whether or not audiovisual services in particular will be excluded from the negotiating mandate, due to possible threats made to the cultural exception. Other issues relate to the protection of investment, to public procurement for defence, to collective preferences (particularly on GMOs), to geographical indications and to the handling of sensitive agricultural products.
Canada. De Gucht will inform the ministers about the progress in negotiations for a comprehensive economic and trade agreement (CETA) - negotiations which were due to be finished at the end of 2012, but which are coming up against several stumbling blocks (access to the agricultural market, financial services and public procurement).
China. Over lunch, the ministers will particularly discuss the possibility of opening negotiations for an agreement on investment - for which the Commission presented a request on 23 May. The current bilateral dispute - which is sizeable and fuelled by the issues of Chinese solar panels and telecoms, and Chinese retaliatory measures - will be the focus of the discussions.
Doha. The Council will discuss the preparation for the 9th ministerial conference of the WTO in Bali on 3-6 December, which provides for a partial agreement on the facilitation of trade, special and differentiated treatment (including the needs of LDCs), and some elements of the agricultural chapter.
Bangladesh. An exchange of views is planned on working conditions in Bangladesh - the world's second biggest exporter of textiles - after the Savar tragedy. (EH/transl.fl)