UPDATE ON THE TTIP AND MANDATE TO THE EC TO CONTINUE NEGOTIATIONS

The European Parliament finally voted on 8 July on one of the most important dossiers it deals with in this term, the Trade Agreement with the US (TTIP). A comfortable majority of Members have endorsed the continuation of negotiations conducted by the EU Executive (the Commission) with its American counterpart. The pro-TTIP camp was formed of the People’s Party (EPP), the majority of the Socialists & Democrats (S&D), Conservatives & Reformists (ECR) and Liberal-democrats (ALDE), which gathered 436 votes (61%). The anti-TTIP camp was formed of the radical-left / communists, Greens/EFA, euro-sceptics (EFDD) and nationalists (EFN), which gathered 241 votes (34%). Notably, the Socialist delegations coming from the UK, France, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland and Bulgaria did not support the mandate for TTIP. Some German and Italian socialists also voted against.

From among the other groups supporting TTIP, the French ALDE delegation abstained, while a few reservations were noted among the Belgian and Slovakian EPP Members. On the other hand, the Hungarian EPP delegation, who did not back TTIP at the start of the negotiations in 2013, now seems to have got back in line with the EPP position. Despite the rather vocal opposition to TTIP from some segments of the public and their corresponding political factions in the Parliament, the agreement received the backing of the large political groups.

After months of fierce battles and lobby on both sides, the most controversial clause of the treaty, the ISDS, remains in limbo. The push to explicitly remove the references to ISDS in TTIP were unsuccessful. The Socialists were split on this matter, with the most leftist ones arguing for the complete scrapping of the investors’ protection clause, while others preferred a compromise. In a last-minute move, a new compromised amendment between the People’s Party and the Socialists was submitted to be voted upon, even after the normal deadline had expired. This change was harshly criticized by the Greens and the hard left, but in the end the amendment was accepted by the plenary and this ensured a relative victory for the pro free-market camp, made up of the EPP, ECR and ALDE groups, alongside the majority of the Socialists. The text adopted says that the current ISDS will be replaced by an entirely new system, where the public sector will have a much greater power over the private one, although the phrasing leaves much room for interpretation.

As a result, the Commission has a mandate from the Parliament to continue the negotiations on TTIP and to propose some sort of supra-national arbitration system to handle possible disputes between investors and states, but it is not clear (to the Commission, the investors, the governments or the public) how this will look like. This room for interpretation announces the continuation of struggles and is likely to contribute to making negotiations lengthier. Background TTIP has generated an unprecedented lobbying activity as both the proponents and the opponents of the deal aim to form ad-hoc coalitions and rally as much support as possible among the MEPs, to ensure majorities in favour or against the most contentious provisions of the text. Although the European Parliament is not formally involved in negotiations, the European Commission is legally obliged to keep Parliament updated, and Parliament has the power to reject the trade deal once it has been finalised. As seen in the case of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), the rejection of a done deal is not only a theoretical possibility, but can turn into reality if a (political) majority of MEPs disagree with the content of the deal, or the low level of transparency of the process. Before the actual ratification vote, the Parliament usually votes, once or more times, a non-binding resolution stating its position and the ‘no go’ zones, as is the case of the resolution currently being worked on in the international trade committee (INTA). The EP vote on 8 July 2015 is the second on TTIP, after the one in May 2013. The treaty is expected to come to EP for actual ratification in 2016 at the earliest.