Trans-atlantic trade talks a major fault line for new Parliament

The Transatlantic trade negotiations are back at the top of the agenda and set to generate much controversy in the new parliament, with the Commissioner for Trade, Karel De Gucht facing a barrage of criticism at the European Parliament’s plenary meeting this week.

For the two and a half hour debate, MEPs repeatedly voiced the same concerns about the lack of transparency of the sprawling TTIP negotiations and controversial elements such as food standards, data privacy and investor-state dispute settlements, which will allow foreign companies to take a government to court.

If repetition is the best way to learn, the Commissioner left Strasbourg with some lessons ringing in his ears.

For De Gucht, the debate was, “controlled by irrational fears and false information.” For the majority of the fifty parliamentarians who took to the floor to speak, including many who sit on the Parliament’s Committee for International Trade (INTA), De Gucht’s words offered little reassurance.

As the sixth round of negotiations on TTIP gets under way, De Gucht rejected criticisms of inadequate public scrutiny, saying it is the preferred method of both the US and EU delegations to carry out negotiations in private. “If you want to build confidence you also need a certain degree of confidentiality,” he said.

De Gucht noted the documents and texts relating to TTIP are publicly-available, but warned that reading them, "could spoil your summer holidays", as they are thousands of pages long. He did however concede that negotiating directives, given to the Commission by the member states, and up to now out of sight, should be made public.

TTIP, billed as potentially the most ambitious trade agreement ever, accounting for a third of global trade, is predominantly about shedding red tape and duplication of efforts, he said. “Does it make sense that an inspector from the US flies over here to inspect our pharma production sites and repeats exactly the same work as was done by a European colleague?” he asked.

Following the sixth round of talks this week, negotiators are due to meet at least two more times before the end of the year.

The sticking points

Business associations around Europe are throwing their weight fully behind the negotiations, believing that it will spur innovation in European by making it easier to sell products to the US market. But the mood music is reserved or downbeat in almost all other quarters.

Yannick Jadot, a Green MEP and vice-chair of INTA summarised the common complaints, "What's up for negotiation here is how we deal with environmental protection, health and social issues, public services, intellectual property, agriculture and food. These key issues are being negotiated behind closed doors (...) to dilute the European project in a big transatlantic market."

Jude Kirton-Darling, a UK MEP who sits with the socialist group (S&Ds) and is on the INTA committee, said, “We only accept free market because it comes with a social model. We don’t want to see it become a part of privatisation creep in the next few years.” This is a big concern amongst British critics of TTIP, who are particularly concerned that the National Health Service (NHS) could be affected if a future government wanted to reverse any decisions to contract out services to private sector businesses.

Another difficult circle to square is the matter of instigating an investor-state dispute court. Jorg Leichtfried, an Austrian S&D member, said, “These negotiations were well-intentioned but they’re going astray very grievously. […..] I don’t think we need a special investors’ dispute court. My impression is that big industry will benefit and everyone else will suffer.”

Reinhard Bütikofer, a German Green, accused the Commission of acting with complacency. “We need to see the same information that industrial lobbies have had for a long time,” he said.

For Marine Le Pen, a French far-right MEP, “The Commission is showing contempt for European people.”

Meanwhile, the Greens have backed Stop TTIP, a citizens' initiative on TTIP, which is demanding the repeal of the Commission’s negotiating mandate.

The Greens said, "There is a growing sense of unease and concern among European citizens and civil society about the ongoing TTIP negotiations. The Greens fully support the citizen’s initiative and will work proactively over the coming months to ensure it will have a successful outcome."

In favour

Amid the clamour of protests, a quieter group of MEPs said they are backing TTIP for the opportunities it could offer companies big and small in Europe.

Seán Kelly, Irish member of the European Peoples’ Party (EPP), called for levelheadedness. “Let’s make our mind up on facts, not on perceptions. Let’s get on with it,” he said.

Alexander Lambsdorff, a member of the liberal group (ALDE) who also sits on INTA, said, “Mrs Le Pen makes us look ridiculous. Where do jobs come from? Through [investing in] research and innovation. Let’s remove tariffs.”

We know what entrepreneurs want, said Jerzy Buzek, chair of the Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) committee. “They want free trade of energy [with the US]. This can create jobs on both sides.”

“If the EU and US work together, it’s good. We can dispose of unnecessary bureaucracy,” said Peter Liese, a German member of EPP. Former Finnish EU Commissioner Oli Rehn, sitting with ALDE, agreed. “It’s a means to grant access for EU companies into the US market.”

Petr Mach, who sits with Nigel Farage’s Europe of freedom and direct democracy group (EFDD), said, “As a libertarian, I am in favour of free trade. I don’t want custom duties or other barriers.” But such an agreement must not be as thick as this sheet of paper, he said, indicating that he needed some convincing still.

David Martin, a British member of the S&Ds, said that he looked forward to TTIP opening up public procurement opportunities in the US for small businesses in Europe. 

Parliament’s role

A thumbs up or down from MEPs will make or break TTIP. Conservative, liberal and socialist groups, who together have a 460 seat majority, welcomed the start of the negotiations back in 2013, and on the basis of that support TTIP’s eventual passage would seem likely.

TTIP’s main committee watchdog, INTA, is also largely controlled by supporters of the trade deal, with its loudest critics, including Le Pen, marginalised.

As a member of the S&Ds, the chair of the group, German MEP Bernd Lange, will be inclined to support TTIP, on condition that some of his main fears are allayed.

The EPP has two vice-chairs on the committee, Tokia Saïfi and Iuliu Winkler, of France and Romania. The Czech MEP Jan Zahradil, of the European Conservative and Reformists (ECR), a group that is also in favour of the deal, holds a vice-chair position too.

Jadot, the Green MEP, is the only vice-chair who is firmly set against it.

There is no formal timetable for concluding negotiations, but the two sides would probably like to reach agreement by early 2016, before the end of President Barack Obama’s term in office.