EU hopes for internal agreement on US trade deal before end of May
The European Commission is confident that the European Union can reach an internal agreement this month on implementing the trade deal with the United States, a spokesperson said on Thursday. No agreement has been reached yet, but "we have made significant progress," the spokesperson said.
Representatives of the European Parliament and the member states negotiated late into the night on Wednesday over the deal that Commission president Ursula von der Leyen concluded last summer with US president Donald Trump at Turnberry, Scotland.
MEPs and member states must agree on zero tariffs for US industrial goods and greater market access for a range of fish and agricultural products. In return, Trump pledged a general import tariff cap of 15 per cent on European goods. Nine months on, the EU has yet to finalise its internal position. Trump increased the pressure last week with a new threat to raise the import tariff on European cars to 25 per cent.
The European Parliament's chief negotiator, Bernd Lange, als said negotiators had made "substantial progress," while cautioning that "there is still some way to go." The Commission spokesperson said that the next round of negotiations, scheduled for 19 May in Strasbourg, would "hopefully lead to a final agreement."
Parliament calls for safeguards
The spokesperson stressed on Thursday that the EU remains fully committed to implementing the deal, while noting that the internal negotiations are "fully in line with standard legislative practice in the EU." .
The Commission and most member states want to wrap up the process as quickly as possible, but the European Parliament is pushing for additional safeguards. That includes a clause that would allow the agreement to be suspended should Trump threaten the territorial integrity of a member state, as he did with Greenland earlier this year.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen (L) speaks with European Parliament president Roberta Metsola. PHOTO © FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP
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