Brussels, 22/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - No real breakthrough is expected at the 13th round of technical level negotiations for an EU-US free trade agreement (TTIP) being held in New York on 25-29 April. The negotiators will have the task of moving forward as much as possible on each of the three pillars of the negotiations - market access, regulatory cooperation, and rules - in order to keep up the pace for an agreement in principle before the end of the mandate of the current US administration at the end of 2016.
Whilst US President Barack Obama's visit to the UK on Friday 22 April, and to Germany over the weekend and on Monday, could give a boost to the TTIP talks on the political level, “no real breakthrough should be expected” at the New York round, said European chief negotiator Ignacio Bercero at a press conference on Friday. “The objective of this round will be to reach a sufficient level of maturity in all areas of negotiations to be able to move to the next stage, the 'end game'”, Bercero said. Another round of technical level talks is planned in June.
The European Commission's objective continues to be to conclude before the end of Obama's mandate. “But we want an ambitious and balanced agreement. We want the same level of progress on all chapters so that only the sensitive issues remain to be handled. And we do not want to sacrifice anything on the substance because of timetable constraints”, Bercero stated, deeming that “it should be possible to work with the next US president, whoever it may be”.
Market access pillar. On the tariff section, the discussions will be continued on the basis of the revised offers exchanged at the Miami round in October 2015, which cover 97% of the tariff lines (the remaining 3% - sensitive agricultural sectors - will only be discussed in the final phase of talks).
On the services section, talks continue on the basis of the revised offers exchanged in the summer of 2015. The EU wants to obtain concessions from the US “going beyond” the free trade agreement that was concluded with Canada (CETA), Bercero stated, especially in the maritime transport sector, and also in the telecoms and air transport sectors. “We hope to be able to negotiate additional commitments. Canada made proposals to us that the USA has not made on the maritime sector. If the Americans show openness, we can go beyond the CETA”, he said.
On the public procurement access section, the discussions will continue on the basis of offers exchanged at the end of February. At this stage, the EU is “disappointed” by the initial US offer, Bercero stated.
Regulatory cooperation pillar. Discussions will continue on the three horizontal disciplines of regulatory cooperation - regulatory coherence, technical barriers to trade, and sanitary and phytosanitary measures - and on regulatory convergence in the eight key industrial sectors (pharmaceuticals, automobiles, chemicals, textiles, cosmetics, medical devices, engineering and pesticides). The EU will table its proposed text for the pharmaceutical sector, where it expects a “very high level” of regulatory compatibility, Bercero stated. For regulatory convergence on the automobile sector, “we are on the right track”, he assured.
Rules pillar. The EU hopes to progress in New York on several chapters for which the consolidated texts are well advanced - SMEs, competition, trade facilitation and state-to-state dispute settlement.
On the sustainable development chapter - protection of work and environmental standards -discussions will continue on the basis of proposals made by the EU at the Miami round and by the US at the last round. “The EU proposed strong commitments” Bercero said.
On investment protection, the parties will continue their work of consolidating texts on the basis of US and EU proposals. The EU sent its proposal for a new investor-to-state dispute settlement (the investment court system) in November 2015. “For the moment the negotiations are focusing on the issues where we have commonalities - that is, procedures transparency”, Bercero stated.
By contrast, “the questioning continues” as regards the chapter on raw materials and energy. “We still do not have a basic agreement, but I hope we will advance next week. We hope to advance on this issue before the summer”, he said.
As regards intellectual property rights, a discussion is planned on geographical indications. “This is an EU priority but it is an extremely difficult issue. It depends on our legal frameworks. We may perhaps find a way to move forward, but I am not sure there will be real progress next week”, Bercero conceded. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)