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Speaking in Brussels, Schinas said he had taken note of German vice chancellor Sigmar Gabriel’s media comment on Sunday that the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the US has “failed”.
However, Schinas told reporters: “Although trade talks take time, the ball is rolling right now. The Commission is making steady progress in the ongoing TTIP negotiations.”
He described the current stage of negotiations as “difficult, complex, critical”, but he insisted that a general outline of the deal as well as proposals for almost all chapters are on the table.
Provided the conditions are right, the Commission stands ready to close this deal by the end of the year
Agriculture is one of the sticking points remaining to be resolved.
“Provided the conditions are right, the Commission stands ready to close this deal by the end of the year,” Schinas said. He reported that European Council president Jean-Claude Juncker had asked the leaders of all member states whether the EU should continue negotiating on TTIP at their last meeting on 28 June.
“The European Commission received once again the mandate to conclude these negotiations,” he said. Yet he also quoted Juncker as saying that “the Commission will not sacrifice Europe’s safety, health, social and data protection standards or our cultural diversity on the altar of free trade”.
The next update on TTIP is due at a meeting of EU trade ministers in Bratislava on 22 September, when the Commission will report on the latest progress in negotiations.
On Monday, Sinn Féin MEP Matt Carthy welcomed the German comments as a sign that TTIP was "politically dead, at least for the time being", but warned that “those forces who sought to impose TTIP will return in the future with other dangerous proposals.”
He added: “The most pressing concern for opponents of this regressive EU trade agenda will be the proposed ratification of the Canadian deal, CETA, which contains the same provisions that have led to such great opposition to TTIP.”
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