The EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan remains hopeful of movement being made on a bilateral trade deal between Europe and the United States.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio on Wednesday morning, Commissioner Phil Hogan said despite US interests being set on a trade deal with Pacific nations and an upcoming presidential election, he remains hopeful of progressing the talks. EU and US negotiators are fresh from the eighth round of talks.

“The last round of talks, which took place in Brussels was more successful (than previous rounds),” Hogan said.

“In the second half of 2016, there will be a presidential campaign (in America) and that will take over, so we want to make as much progress as we can on a comprehensive deal by March 2016,” the Commissioner added.

The two sides have been negotiating on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) since July 2013 but the US team would appear to be not fully committed to TTIP until other interests are taken care of.