An EU-US trade deal must open up US market access for EU firms, but must not undermine EU standards, say MEPs in recommendations, voted Wednesday, to EU trade negotiators. To settle trade-related investor-state disputes, a new justice system, run by publicly-appointed judges and subject to scrutiny and transparency rules, should replace private arbitration under the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system, they add. Parliament approved its recommendations to European Commission Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiators by 436 votes...

Read more

The Greece debt crisis took centre stage during July's plenary session, as Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras came to Strasbourg to discuss the search for solutions. MEPs also adopted their recommendations for Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and approved a reform of the EU's emissions trading scheme that should boost incentives for green investments. Read on for our summary of what happened in Strasbourg in a busy summer week. MEPs held a heated debate with Tsipras, European Council President...

Read more

The debate and vote on Parliament's recommendations on the ongoing Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations were postponed because of the high number of amendments tabled. What does this mean and what happens next? EP President Martin Schulz decided late on Tuesday to send the 116 amendments tabled in plenary to the Parliament report on TTIP to the international trade committee for further deliberation. The following morning the debate scheduled on the same issue was also postponed for...

Read more

An EU-US trade deal should deepen EU access to the US market, but must not undermine EU standards or the right to regulate in the public interest, say Trade Committee MEPs in draft recommendations voted on Thursday. Tools for resolving disputes between investors and states should be reformed and improved, they add. The recommendations to the Commission negotiators on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), approved in committee by 28 votes to 13 with no abstentions, still need to...

Read more

  "As senior officials in the transatlantic relationship, former US Ambassadors to European countries, the European Union, and NATO who served under Republican and Democratic administrations, each of us has witnessed first-hand the tremendous diplomatic, economic, and security benefits that transatlantic relations bring the United States." - 17 former US Ambassadors In their letter to Congress, the former Ambassadors urge the lawmakers to pass the new TPA bill and push for a quick and successful completion of TTIP. The Ambassadors argue...

Read more

“This week we have also stepped up our work in the rules area. We consider that an important element of TTIP should be the development of rules, not only to govern our bilateral trade relationship, but also to contribute to global rules and standards in areas such as competition, energy and raw materials or sustainable development, to name a few.” – EU Chief Negotiator Ignacio Garcia Bercero The Chief Negotiator for the European Union, Ignacio Garcia Bercero, outlined the...

Read more

"This week we have also stepped up our work in the rules area. We consider that an important element of TTIP should be the development of rules, not only to govern our bilateral trade relationship, but also to contribute to global rules and standards in areas such as competition, energy and raw materials or sustainable development, to name a few." - EU Chief Negotiator Ignacio Garcia Bercero   The Chief Negotiator for the European Union, Ignacio Garcia Bercero, outlined...

Read more

Brussels, 20 April 2015 -- The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) has significant potential for small and medium sized enterprises, according to a report released in Brussels today. It presents the results of a survey of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) carried out in 2014 on challenges they face when exporting to the United States. It also uses newly available data to look at the scale of exports by EU SMEs to the United States. Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner...

Read more