All-Party Parliamentary Group on EU-US Trade & Investment

Bulletin 7 – June 2014

Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations

EU and US trade negotiators met for their fifth round of formal negotiations in Arlington, VA under the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) May 19^th-23rd. A link to the final press conference with both chief negotiators is here: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/in-focus/ttip/resources/#_videos

Both Chief negotiators highlighted that very good talks had taken place on Regulatory Coherence and that agreement in principle had been reached on an approach for horizontal regulatory issues. By providing broad input into regulatory processes early better regulations can be achieved. There was agreement that the outcome of the negotiations should in “no case reduce the level of protection” under existing legislation. Discussions had also covered specific sectors such as medical devices, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, pesticides, chemicals and IT. Negotiations had moved to discussing draft texts in a number of areas, particularly TBTs, competition, state-to-state dispute settlement and SMEs. Both negotiators said it had been “a very good week with strong progress”.

As during previous rounds, negotiators also met with a large number of stakeholders, and negotiators continued to welcome input from interested parties.

Prior to the 5^th Round the European Commission published negotiating positions in five new areas: Chemicals, Cosmetics, Motor vehicles, Pharmaceutical Products, and Textiles and Clothing. Here is a link to the position papers: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=1076

A sixth round of negotiations is to be held in Brussels in July.

APPG members pushed for SME Representation in the Commission’s Advisory Group on TTIP in the meeting with Chief negotiator Garcia Bercero on the 6^th of March. The European Commission has subsequently announced that an SME representative will be appointed to the group.

The introduction of an Investor-state-dispute-settlement (isds) mechanism in TTIP has been the subject of public debate in the UK and other Member States as well as the European Parliament. The European Commission launched a public on-line consultation on isds on the 27^th of March, and negotiations on isds in the investment chapter in the negotiations have been put on hold for the three-month period that the consultations last. The Commission hosted a stakeholder dialogue on isds on May 13^th. A link to Commission’s note on the consultations is here: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2014/march/tradoc_152279.pdf

AGM

The APPG will hold its annual general meeting with election of officers on June 4^th at 4.00 pm in Committee Room 19.

APPG Parliamentary open meetings

The APPG will host a series of Panel Discussions on the potential impact of TTIP on specific sectors in the UK in June and July this year. Like the APPG panel discussion held February 4^th on the automotive sector (brief here: http://tradeinvest2015.babinc.org/eu-us-trade/all-party-parliamentary-group/brief-automotive-sector-ttip/) these meetings bring together panelists from the industry and unions and consumers, and are open to outside organizations as well as Parliamentarians.

June 4^th Textiles 4.00-5.00 pm Committee Room 19

Panelists:

CEO John Miln, UK Fashion and Textile Association
Director Bev Bambrough, Community the Union
Managing Director Nick Bannerman, Johnstons of Elgin

June 24^th Chemicals 4.30-5.30 pm Committee Room 18

Panelists:

Chief Executive Steve Elliott, Chemical Industries Association
National Officer Allan Black, GMB the Union
A chemical company rep (tbc)

June 25^th Pharmaceuticals 3.00-4.00 pm Committee Room 13

Panelists:

Chief Executive Stephen Whitehead, Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry
National Officer Linda McCulloch, Unite the Union
Senior Director Rick Ascroft, Eli Lilly

July 14^th Agriculture, Food and Drink 4.00-5.00 pm Committee Room 18

Panelists:

Director General Melanie Leech, Food and Drink Federation
Assistant General Secretary Diana Holland, Unite the Union
Deputy Director General Martin Haworth, National Farmers’ Union
Chief Policy Adviser Sue Davies, Which?

House of Lords inquiry on TTIP published

The House Lords inquiry into TTIP was published on May 13th. In presenting the report Lord Tugendhat underlined that there is a need for greater government involvement in support of the negotiations. A link to the report is here: http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/lords-select/eu—foreign-affairs-defence-and-development-policy-sub-committee-c/news/ttip-report-published/

APPG visits

A delegation of eight APPG officers and members visited Brussels on the 5^th and 6^th of March for meetings with European Parliamentarians, stakeholder groups and UK and Commission officials. A note on the main assessments from the briefings can be found here.

APPG Parliamentary briefing meetings

The APPG organises a series of smaller private briefing meetings, potentially open to Group members who wish to attend – if you’d like to be informed or invited, please email john.healey.mp@parliament.uk or guto.bebb.mp@parliament.uk.

APPG officers and members will meet with US Ambassador Barzun on July 1^stat 5.00pm in Room U in Portcullis House.

APPG officers met with the Chief US Negotiator on Investment, Jay Motwane on March 11^th.

APPG officers have also met with Deputy USTR, Ambassador Miriam Sapiro, and EU Chief Negotiator for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations, Director Ignacio Garcia Bercero.

British American Business activities

BritishAmericanBusiness is running a nation-wide series of road shows on TTIP to reach out to SMEs and beyond the traditional policy community in London. Expert panels of speakers introduce discussions on the benefits and effects of a proposed deal. The APPG officers and MP members contribute to panel discussions alongside business leaders, UKTI Advisors and APPG officers. Road-shows in 2014 will be held in:

Birmingham, June 3^rd

Liverpool, June 26th

Edinburgh in September

Sheffield, 1^st October

Bristol in October

For further information see: http://www.tradeinvest.babinc.org

BritishAmerican Business will host a reception in Parliament on September 3^rdfrom 7.00-9.00 pm in the House of Commons Terrace. The event will celebrate and recognize the contribution made by SMEs to the strength and success of transatlantic trade and investment.