Brussels, 07/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - Alongside a political process that is moving at idle speed, what with the renewal of the EU's leadership and the mid-term elections in the US, the seventh round of EU-US free trade negotiations (TTIP) in Chevy Chase (Maryland) from 29 September until 3 October did not permit any breakthrough. However, another week of “productive discussions” enabled the negotiators to move “smoothly into the textual phase, where discussions are based on specific textual proposals”, said European chief negotiator Ignacio Garcia Bercero at the end of this seventh round of technical talks on 3 October. Once again, Bercero - like his US counterpart Dan Mullaney - promised not to compromise environmental protection in any way, nor health, consumer safety, data protection or other public policy objectives, nor the right of governments to regulate.
Last week, the talks largely focused on the regulatory section of TTIP. “We consider the regulatory part of TTIP to have the potential to deliver the most benefits. It is also the most challenging part of these negotiations, because it is highly technical and requires the most innovative thinking. Despite this, I believe we are making good progress”, said Bercero.
As regards the horizontal disciplines (regulatory coherence, technical barriers to trade, health and phytosanitary measures) “the parties are now fully engaged in the discussions based on textual proposals”, stated Bercero. “An important challenge is going to be to establish a strong framework for cooperation that allows EU and US regulators to tackle new regulatory challenges based on high levels of protection”, he added.
As regards the key specific sectors (pharmaceuticals, automobiles, chemicals, textiles, cosmetics, medical devices, engineering and pesticides), “the technical work is making steady progress”, Bercero stated. On this, the challenge is to put an end to the pointless doubling up of product tests or factory inspections, to recognise the rules already existing in the EU and US, or to bring them closer together and harmonise the respective procedures for the approval or registration of new products.
Bercero also spoke about the three key elements of the negotiations on the regulatory pillar: - firstly, the maintenance of high standards. “We have made an unequivocal and firm commitment: nothing will be done which could lower or endanger the protection of the environment, health, safety, consumers or any other public policy goals pursued by EU or US regulators”, Bercero repeated; - secondly, the strategic dimension of the transatlantic regulatory cooperation, so that the EU and US might play a leading role in developing international regulations and standards based on the highest levels of protection; - and thirdly, increased regulatory compatibility on both sides of the Atlantic.
As regards the section on rules, the negotiators focused their discussions on four areas: energy and raw materials; customs and trade facilitation; intellectual property rights; and SMEs.
As regards the pillar on market access, the discussions focused on services, on the basis of the respective market access offers put on the table before the summer. The negotiators spent most of their time explaining all the elements of their respective offers in fine detail. On Friday, Bercero and Mullaney also reaffirmed that any privatisation of public services was excluded from the TTIP negotiations. Mullaney said that they had heard the fears about the fact that the negotiations must not result in the privatisation of public services such as water, education and health insurance, and must not limit the ability of governments to regulate these services as seems fit to them. The US has not included such provisions in the TTIP agreement and will not include them in the negotiations, Mullaney insisted. Bercero added that their approach rules out any commitment on public services.
As at each round now, the negotiators also gave a whole day to an exchange of views with representatives from civil society. “This time again, there were around 330 representatives of various interests and 64 presentations on all the areas covered by the negotiations”, said Bercero. “Our engagement with stakeholders sends a clear message on both sides of the Atlantic. We all work on behalf of and for our citizens. So we need to listen to their ideas and respond to their concerns. We also have the duty to explain the facts and the approach we are taking. Our dialogue must be open to all, continuous and in two directions throughout the negotiating process. This is the only way we can ensure the final agreement responds to the high ambitions our leaders have set for us and reflects the expectation of our citizens”, he said.
Lastly, as regards the new political context, Bercero assured “strong political support” for TTIP from the future president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, and his team. (EH)