European Parliament backs compromise in step towards US trade deal

Lady Barbara Judge called on business leaders to fight the case for an ambitious EU-US trade deal and win over a sceptic general public across Europe, at a dinner at London’s Mansion House last night.

Opposition in the suggested trade transaction combining the Ecu plus the United States, which could function as the worldwide prime, has geared toward its supply for personal settlement.

Critics of a disputed investor court causes a delay in Parliament’s TTIP blessing.

A broader resolution on the trade pact also passed with 436 in favor and 241 against.

The European Parliament must approve any final accord. The vote came with reservations, including demands the agreement will not allow large corporations to sue governments in secretive courts, and for transparency in investor-state disputes, among others.

“I believe that we must fight to win public support for this vital trade deal”, she added.

Several members of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, the second largest political group in the assembly, said they had voted against the text, including Belgian MEP Maria Arena. We talked to German S&D member Bernd Lange, chair of the worldwide trade committee and responsible for drafting the Parliament’s recommendations, to find out more. Such a provision is controversial in some EU capitals because of the constraints it could place on European governments’ ability to regulate in the public interest, becoming a lightning rod in the process for skeptics of an EU-U.S. trade agreement in general.

The parliament said a deal must abide by European Union standards, be overseen by a new legal system and be subject to democratic scrutiny.

MEPs also called on the Commission and member states to develop better tools to help farmers deal with market disturbances and diversify export markets to help European Union producers deal with the prolonged Russian ban.

On Wednesday, Schulz paid tribute to a vote which he said “gives a much-needed renewed impetus to transatlantic negotiations”. Negotiations on TTIP and a similar agreement with Canada (CETA) have not been transparent for the last two years.