Brussels, 29/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - In a letter of Thursday 29 January sent to Latvia's foreign minister, Edgars Rinkevics, and to other European trade ministers, European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström has called for publication of the Council's mandate to the Commission for negotiating an international trade in services agreement (TiSA).
“TiSA has attracted considerable attention from the public, notably on issues which are also of particular interest to civil society in the TTIP negotiations [with the USA], such as the treatment of public services”, Malmström stated, underlining the fact that publishing the TiSA mandate would contribute to the efforts for transparency in the TTIP negotiations with the US and to the trade negotiations in general. “I would also like to confirm that the publication of the mandate would not undermine our negotiating position in these specific negotiations nor harm the public interest of the Union as regards our international relations”, she added.
The Commission had already unveiled the EU's negotiating position in the TiSA negotiations on 24 July 2014. A commitment to these negotiations was taken on the sidelines of the WTO in 2013 (see EUROPE 11160). (EH)