Brussels, 05/01/2016 (Agence Europe) - Marc Tarabella MEP, head of the Belgian socialists and democrats (S&D) delegation at the European Parliament, is calling for a halt to the TTIP negotiations, in the face of the assessment made by the US authorities of a weak gain, or even loss for European agriculture as a result of the future transatlantic trade and investment partnership agreement (TTIP). In a letter sent to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan on Monday 4 January, Tarabella asks them for an official response and explanations to the European Parliament.
The conclusions, published in December 2015, of the US Department of Agriculture on the assessment of the gains for both stakeholders in TTIP according to three scenarios are “straightforward”, Tarabella states - “the European agricultural sector would be the loser in this agreement; furthermore, the Europeans could even undergo negative effects if this agreement was to be passed”.
In the first scenario, where only customs duties are abolished, the estimated gain for the US side would be $5.5 billion, compared with only $800 million for the EU - in other words, a gain for the US that is seven times greater than that for the EU.
In the second scenario, where the abolition of customs duties is coupled with the removal of non-tariff measures, the estimated gain for the US would be $10 billion, compared with barely $2 billion for the EU.
In the third scenario, where non-tariff barriers are removed at the request of consumers, the result would be a total lack of positive returns for the EU.
In addition, the report anticipates a rise in US prices and a fall in European prices, under the effect of too strong competition in an area of weak growth. This would be “a disaster” for the whole sector, Tarabella states.
“These revelations only discredit the whole negotiation process, as well as its legitimacy. The agricultural component must not be the adjustment variable for the other chapters of the TTIP negotiation. This situation would lead to an aggravation of the conditions, already very hard, in which the agricultural sector evolves. The agricultural sector is a key sector of the European Union and must not be weakened”, Tarabella writes in his letter.
“We can only underline the astronomical inequality between the benefits for the US and those for Europe. TTIP is an instrument that is tailor-made for the US Farm Bill, which is coupled to production and guarantees a minimum income to its farmers. This is not the case for the European Common Agricultural Policy, which does the opposite in abandoning regulation mechanisms one after the other”, Tarabella added on Monday, in a press release to accompany his letter.
Driving the message home, Tarabella adds that according to the US report, the scenario which would be harmful to the US would be that of the citizens prioritising quality and health issues. In this case, consumers would turn towards local production, which would mean that TTIP would be of no interest for the US side. “One can imagine all the determination across the Atlantic to avoid such a catastrophic scenario for US companies”, he said.
“The Americans themselves acknowledge that Europeans don't have much to gain from TTIP. In the light of these results, I call for a pure and simple halt to these negotiations. I don't want to see European agriculture taken to the slaughter and, in the wake of this, European food security! Either the Commission should confirm the US scenarios and the uselessness of TTIP, or it should denounce the report and at the same time denounce the credibility of our US trade partners”, Tarabella concluded. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)
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