Gathered for an extraordinary session on Tuesday, 2 June, the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade (INTA) overwhelmingly approved the ‘Turnberry’ tariff agreement with the United States—with 31 votes in favour, six against, and three abstentions. The trade deal specifically on lobster and lobster products was also approved with 32 votes in favour, six against, and three abstentions.
“We have reached quite a realistic agreement. We achieved [a] balanced text [and] meaningful safeguards”, stated EPP rapporteur Željana Zovko (Croatian), reminding her fellow MEPs, “Millions of jobs in [the] European Union are at stake.” Calling for this text not to be ‘politicised’, she asked her colleagues to “vote overwhelmingly” in favour of the agreement during the next plenary session and to “give [the] European Commission tools to fight for [an] ever stronger [...] position”.
Before the vote, several MEPs from the European Parliament’s left wing nevertheless lamented that certain safeguards called for by Parliament had not been included in the final compromise (see EUROPE 13871/1).
“The safeguards [...]—[not only] the sunset clause but also the automatic suspension [...]—that we insisted on were important,” felt Sergey Lagodinsky (German), a vice-chair of the Greens/EFA group. “Europe must avoid escalation; [...] but we cannot accept and will not accept coercion”, he added.
Martin Schirdewan (The Left, German) also highlighted the lack of an ‘automatic’ safeguard mechanism (see EUROPE 13875/4), which would be triggered in the event that there was a significant increase in imports in a sector that would threaten European industry. From now on, “the European Commission can decide whether or not to take these measures. That is not mandate with which voters have entrusted us”, he noted with regret.
Despite these reservations, a large majority of the political groups considers that the agreement is first and foremost a means of avoiding further trade escalation with Washington. The text is expected to be formally adopted during the European Parliament’s next plenary session on 16 June. (Original version in French by Juliette Verdes)