Representatives of the Parliament and the 27 member states are set to gather in Strasbourg this evening for a new negotiation session to finalize this trade deal negotiated on behalf of the EU by the European Commission.
They had already tried in early May to reach a compromise to implement the agreement, but failed to do so, despite the growing impatience of the US president. He threatened Europeans with new tariffs on cars and trucks imported last year if they did not ratify the negotiated agreement last summer in Turnberry, Scotland, giving them until July 4th to comply.
This time, hope seems to be on the horizon, according to several participants in the discussions. But reaching a compromise is not easy due to the many conditions set by the lawmakers. “We have already made significant progress and I hope that we can reach a compromise, incorporating new proposals,” said German MEP Bernd Lange (S&D, left), the influential president of the European Parliament’s International Trade Committee, to AFP.
For its part, the rotating EU Council presidency held by Cyprus, stated that they are “fully committed to working constructively with the European Parliament to conclude the negotiations.” Their goal remains to quickly implement the agreement between the EU and the United States, in full respect of the legislative procedure, according to a spokesperson.
EU has committed to abolishing the customs duties applied to most American imports, in exchange for capping Trump’s tariffs on European products at 15%. But the Parliament attached their approval to a series of difficult safeguards for the member states to accept if they want to avoid further anger from the White House.
According to Green MEP Anna Cavazzini, “the chances of reaching an agreement are good, but for that to happen, member states must make concessions to Parliament.” She highlighted the necessity of robust safeguard clauses due to the untrustworthiness of Trump.
On the right, there is a call to implement the agreement quickly to avoid penalizing transatlantic trade, on which millions of businesses and jobs depend. “We have no choice. We have wasted too much time,” argues Croatian MEP Zeljana Zovko (EPP).
While MEPs were initially eager to ratify the agreement with the United States, the process has been significantly hindered in recent months by Donald Trump’s interests in Greenland, and then by the legal setback on the tariffs imposed on the billionaire by the US Supreme Court.
