Brussels, 02/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - In a meeting with Paul Magnette, the minister-president of Wallonia (Belgium), on Friday 2 October, European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström gave assurances that the transatlantic trade and investment partnership agreement (TTIP) for free trade between the EU and US will “not be negotiated at any price”.
Malmström highlighted the jobs and growth aspects of TTIP, and promised to fight to maintain high standards in food safety, consumer protection and environmental protection, and to fight to maintain respect for private life, and health and social protection. She also explained her reform proposals for the settlement of investment disputes, the European Commission stated.
In addition, Malmström stated that the trade agreements, including TTIP and the comprehensive economic trade agreement (CETA) with Canada, will not prevent any government, whatever its level, from providing services in sectors such as water, education, health and social services. The EU and US committed to this in a joint statement on 20 March. Malmström also highlighted the unanimous support from the EU member states for the TTIP negotiations, as well as the support from the European Parliament, which was expressed in a resolution adopted in July.
Malmström agreed with Magnette that Belgium is a country with strong trade and that much of the concern on this issue “must be discussed openly”. She said that she would visit the Walloon Parliament in Namur “soon” in order to discuss the EU's trade policy.
On 7 May, the Walloon Parliament adopted a resolution requesting the suspension of the TTIP negotiations and calling for the negotiators' mandate to be better marked out in terms of transparency or the inclusion of social, health and environmental standards, providing for monitoring and sanctions mechanisms, excluding public services and services of general interest from all merchandising, and opposing a mechanism for the settlement of investor-state disputes being delegated to a private jurisdiction. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)