20/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - Malmström plans to accelerate TTIP talks in autumn. In an interview with German daily newspaper Handelsblatt on Friday 17 July, European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström said she thought the transatlantic trade and investment partnership agreement (TTIP) negotiations should “move up a gear this autumn”. “We will do our utmost for an agreement to be approved politically by next summer. The texts will then be submitted for legal scrubbing and afterwards will be translated into all EU languages. TTIP could be assessed by the European Parliament in 2018”, she said. “If we do not find an agreement with the Obama administration, it will be with the next. I have a four-year mandate, I'm not in a hurry - but from the point of view of the economy this needs to progress quickly”, Malmström said. The TTIP negotiations are still on the rails after the tenth round of technical level talks in Brussels last week (see EUROPE 11362). (EH)