At the meeting of Member States' Ambassadors to the EU (Coreper), an agreement in principle was reached on two trade negotiation mandates with the United States, one on industrial products and the other on conformity assessment, which were validated without discussion.
On Friday 5 April, in an EU Council working group, the Member States agreed on the amendments enabling them to validate the negotiating directives with Washington.
The mandates are expected to be formally adopted on Monday 15 April at the EU Council of Agriculture Ministers.
An explicit reference to the TTIP
At Paris' request, a number of safeguards have been added to the texts of the negotiating directives (see EUROPE 12225/14).
Above all, a particularly sensitive subject for Paris, which wished that no bridge between the negotiations that these two new mandates would trigger be identified with that of the previous TTIP (ex-TAFTA) (see EUROPE 12220/2, 12171/10), a whole article of the EU Council's decision states that “the negotiating directives for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership have become obsolete” and are no longer valid.
Without compliance with the climate agreement, no broad-based negotiations
In the recitals to the negotiating directives, the EU recalls that it “seeks the negotiation of deep and comprehensive free trade agreements only with Parties to that (the Paris) Agreement”.
As for sensitivities, especially French ones, towards fisheries, the text of the directive on tariff negotiations notes that it is “important to take into account particular sensitivities, for example in the sectors of energy-intensive products and fisheries, by providing appropriate phasing-out periods for the elimination of customs duties and exclusions for the most sensitive tariff lines”.
The recitals also note that it is appropriate for the EU to pursue with Washington “a more limited agreement, covering only the elimination of customs duties on industrial products and excluding agricultural products”.
The environmental impact assessment will have to be carried out taking into account, inter alia, the EU's commitments, including those under the Paris Agreement. In addition, its conclusions “should be taken into account in the negotiating process”.
France will still vote against it
However, Paris warned the same day that it would vote against these mandates. “France is opposed to engaging in any trade negotiations with countries outside the Paris Climate Agreement”, said a source from the Elysée. “It's a matter of fairness in our trade relations”, the source explained.
Nevertheless, France acknowledges that it has achieved “significant progress”. “However, given the United States' position on the Paris Agreement, an essential element in the fight against climate change, and the trade pressures exerted in recent weeks by the United States, the count is not there and France cannot support such trade negotiations”, the French source added.
Only a qualified majority is required for mandates to be validated, although the EU Council traditionally prefers to ensure the consensus of Member States.
The EU Council will most likely publish the final texts of the mandates, with Member States seemingly in favour of defusing any attack by critics of the TTIP. (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)