Brussels, 14/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - European Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht is to meet his US counterpart, Mike Froman, in Washington to assess progress in the free-trade negotiations.
After the first three rounds of technical level negotiations in 2013 and an initial exchange of offers at the beginning of February (see EUROPE 11014), the meeting between De Gucht and Froman in Washington on 17-18 February is due to give the negotiators political guidelines for the continuation of their talks. The guidelines will be with a view to reducing EU-US differences of opinion on issues that will require a great deal of flexibility in the negotiations for a transatlantic trade and investment partnership agreement (TTIP) - agriculture (both on market access, and on the sanitary and phytosanitary section), and also regulatory convergence in the different sectors of industry, financial services and the protection of investments.
EU trade ministers will then be briefed by the European Commission during an informal meeting in Athens on 28 February. The fourth round of technical negotiations is scheduled in Brussels for the week of 10-14 March. On 26 March, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso will then assess the progress in the negotiations.
At the end of January, the Commission published the EU's negotiating position on financial services (see EUROPE 11016). The same week, the Commission set up an expert consulting group to advise its negotiators (see EUROPE 11005). De Gucht has decided to consult stakeholders on the protection of investments and the arbitration of disputes between investor and state. (EH/transl.fl)