Brussels, 18/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - At the spring European Council on 19-20 March, the leaders of the European Union - European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker - want to be assured of strong support from the heads of state and government of the 28 EU member states with regard to the free trade agreement between the EU and US (TTIP). The heads of state and government committed last December to concluding TTIP by the end of 2015 - but the agreement arouses great distrust among the public.
As part of the economic issues that will be addressed by the European Council on Friday, the leaders will discuss the state of progress in the negotiations. These negotiations were started again in early 2015 after several months' break due to the change of leadership in the EU institutions and the US mid-term elections. The eighth session of technical level negotiations was held in Brussels in early February (see EUROPE 11248) and two new sessions have now been scheduled - one in the US in April and the other in Brussels in June (before the summer holiday).
On Friday, the EU28 are expected to confirm their commitment (which was expressed at the European Council in December 2014) to concluding the TTIP negotiations by the end of the year. They are also expected to commit to stepping up their efforts to communicate the advantages of TTIP.
Like Juncker, Tusk expects the European leaders to assert their commitment to TTIP more clearly. “The objective of the discussion is to strengthen the leaders' willingness on the real content of TTIP. The exercise of presenting the gains must not be led just by the Commission. The leaders must be involved”, a source in Juncker's close circle told EUROPE. “Donald Tusk wants us to explain this agreement better. There's some distrust among the public. It's important to have a communication tactic”, said a diplomatic source on Wednesday 18 March.
Juncker told the European Parliament on 11 March that he would ask the European leaders, at their spring Council, for “clarification of their short and long-term intentions” regarding the TTIP negotiations. “I will insist that the European leaders clearly tell us things. At the meetings of the European Council, they have pledged their unfailing support and as soon as they go back home, I read that their enthusiasm has waned. I want to get clarity on this matter”, Juncker said.
In its conclusions of 18 December, the European Council called on the EU and the US to “make all efforts necessary to conclude an ambitious, global and mutually beneficial agreement by the end of 2015”. However, the controversial issues of the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism (ISDS), the transatlantic alignment of standards and the liberalisation of services (with the resulting risks for public services) have fed the fears of certain capitals, which have sometimes sent out mixed messages about TTIP. (Emmanuel Hagry)