Brussels, 06/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - The announcement on Monday 5 October of the conclusion of the TransPacific Partnership (TPP) between 12 countries from the Pacific area - including the US and Japan - has strengthened the hopes, and also the fears, of the European Parliament, where this result is perceived as either a means of boosting the EU-US TTIP negotiations and of building global standards, or as a big danger.
The chair of the European Parliament's international trade committee, Bernd Lange (S&D, Germany), has hailed the TPP as having “the potential to contribute to strengthening rule-based global trade”. “The deal clears the path for changing gears in the transatlantic [TTIP] negotiations”, he said, calling on the US “to engage in the negotiations and bring forward ambitious and comprehensive proposals which the EU has been waiting for”.
For the socialists and democrats (S&D), the conclusion of TPP “puts pressure” on the EU “to conclude ambitious and sustainable international trade deals” and “to set global standards”. With free trade being a “means” to generate “sustainable, fair and inclusive growth”, some TPP provisions could serve as models for future EU trade agreements, but others “may not go far enough” for the level of ambition the EU should have in labour, environmental and health protections, says David Martin (UK).
The conclusion of TPP “will free up valuable time, energy and political capital [on the US side] to invest in the negotiations in TTIP. There is no longer any excuse not to discuss even the more challenging topics”, Marietje Schaake (ALDE, Netherlands) said on behalf of the liberals and democrats. “The conclusion of TTIP should also remind Europeans that we will either be driving rules and standards for global trade, or other countries will set their own standards”, she added.
On the far left, the GUE/NGL Group warns of the “danger” of the TPP. As well as “a rigid investor protection system” and the limitation of civil liberties on the internet, Helmut Scholz (Germany) criticises the TPP's protection of large pharmaceutical companies to the detriment of producing cheaper generic medicines. Scholz also highlights the risks of TPP for farmers in the Pacific region who will now be exposed to direct competition from US producers. Furthermore, Scholz warns of TPP's negative consequences for TTIP, as the Americans will now take this TPP result as the benchmark in its negotiations with the EU. “Many aspects of TPP would be totally unacceptable, such as the primacy of the protection of brand names over the protection of geographical indications of agricultural products”, he states. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)