Strasbourg, 04/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - This first meeting will consist, above all, of initial contact being established between the European and American negotiators. The real negotiation will begin in the autumn.
Despite the affair - which has caused great uproar - of the Americans spying on the European institutions, the negotiations between the EU and US for a transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP) will indeed go ahead next week (on 8-13 July) in Washington. They will be led by two chief negotiators - Dan Mullaney on the US side, and Ignacio Garcia Becero for the EU.
“It will not yet be about the real negotiation” but rather about “setting the scene”, the European Commission sought to temper on Thursday 4 July. This first session of discussions will be technical - with each of the parties explaining its objective on all the issues in order to reach the nub of the negotiations and the trading of offers in the autumn. Two rounds of negotiations could be programmed before the end of the year and regular contact could be maintained at a sustained pace between the rounds.
The Commission's mandate comprises negotiating directives covering three domains - market access, regulation and non-tariff barriers, and the rules. (EH/transl.fl)