EU and US officials ended a 7th round of week-long negotiations in Washington, D.C. (US) on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a new EU-US trade and investment deal. It was confirmed that talks have progressed beyond its conceptual framework and are now concentrated on the concrete proposals made by each side on the trade agreement’s various chapters.
Under the negotiations, a number of areas, there are already consolidated texts that bring together the proposals of the US and of the EU. Further, it was also stressed that “these proposals are in many cases long and complex and require many hours of detailed and difficult discussion and analysis” before they can be solidified.
In addition, both emphasized how the two sides have looked at ways to facilitate the ability of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to export and invest abroad. According to Mullaney, US Chief Negotiators , they are “identifying the specific and practical tools that will help them take advantage of the market access opportunities under TTIP, whether by reducing red tape and delays at the border or addressing charges and taxes that can burden exporting.”
On the EU side, President-Elect Juncker, Chief Negotiators, highlighted TTIP as one of his 10 priorities for the new Commission. TTIP will therefore continue to have strong political support in the new Commission.
