This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/15/business/international/more-hope-than-headway-so-far-in-us-europe-trade-talks.html
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| More Hope Than Headway So Far in U.S.-Europe Trade Talks | More Hope Than Headway So Far in U.S.-Europe Trade Talks |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| BRUSSELS — European and American officials had hoped they could highlight progress on negotiations for a wide-ranging trade agreement when President Obama visits Brussels on March 26. But in talks here this week, frustration has been more evident than headway. | BRUSSELS — European and American officials had hoped they could highlight progress on negotiations for a wide-ranging trade agreement when President Obama visits Brussels on March 26. But in talks here this week, frustration has been more evident than headway. |
| To take one example, when announcing the trade talks last year, leaders said that the agreement would seek to “eliminate all tariffs” on trade in goods between the United States and the European Union, as a step toward creating the world’s biggest bilateral trade zone. But this week, American negotiators accused Europe of seeking to exclude beef, chicken and pork products from tariff cuts. | |
| What’s more, the two sides last year set out an ambitious timetable to get a deal done “on one tank of gas,” by 2015 at the latest. | What’s more, the two sides last year set out an ambitious timetable to get a deal done “on one tank of gas,” by 2015 at the latest. |
| The discussions are still at an early stage, of course. The talks this week in Brussels, led by L. Daniel Mullaney, the assistant trade representative of the United States, and by his counterpart for the European Union, the trade commissioner Karel De Gucht, were only the fourth round. By contrast, talks for a grand trade pact with Asia-Pacific nations and the United States, announced in 2011, are already headed for their 22nd round. | The discussions are still at an early stage, of course. The talks this week in Brussels, led by L. Daniel Mullaney, the assistant trade representative of the United States, and by his counterpart for the European Union, the trade commissioner Karel De Gucht, were only the fourth round. By contrast, talks for a grand trade pact with Asia-Pacific nations and the United States, announced in 2011, are already headed for their 22nd round. |
| But considering the ambitious objective — the creation of a tariff-free space in which, say, a drug approved in Europe would automatically be available for sale in the United States without separate clinical trials — the slow start suggests that the goal of wrapping up an agreement by next year is looking increasingly unrealistic. | But considering the ambitious objective — the creation of a tariff-free space in which, say, a drug approved in Europe would automatically be available for sale in the United States without separate clinical trials — the slow start suggests that the goal of wrapping up an agreement by next year is looking increasingly unrealistic. |
| Ignacio Garcia Bercero, the European Union’s chief negotiator, held a news conference Friday with Mr. Mullaney, where both officials said they had made progress on the issues under discussion but stressed that it was still early going. They said that another round of talks would be held in Washington before the summer. | |
| The two negotiators largely skirted questions about thorny topics that include trade in genetically modified foods, products common in the United States market but still mostly banned in Europe. Nor did they discuss Congress’s demand that hormone-treated beef, also banned in Europe, be part of the trade talks. | |
| And there are questions about how much negotiators can actually deliver on whatever agreement they end up reaching. Mr. Obama’s own Democratic Party has become suspicious about trade agreements, and has so far denied the president the authority to use a so-called fast track process for approving trade deals that would allow him to negotiate an agreement and present it to Congress for an up-or-down vote. If European negotiators know that American lawmakers could seek to change any final agreement, they might have little enthusiasm for pressing ahead. | |
| On the European side, civil society groups have criticized what they describe as the secrecy surrounding the talks and the apparent dominance of corporate interests in the discussions. They have been particularly incensed by a proposal for the insertion of a legal provision known as investor-state dispute settlement, which would give corporations the right to sue governments within the European Union for damages if regulations they felt were unfair caused them economic harm. It is something that businesses on both sides of the Atlantic have been pushing for. But European critics have assailed that provision as a Trojan horse for defeating their hard-won laws on consumer protection, labor and the environment, which in many cases are stronger than those in America. | On the European side, civil society groups have criticized what they describe as the secrecy surrounding the talks and the apparent dominance of corporate interests in the discussions. They have been particularly incensed by a proposal for the insertion of a legal provision known as investor-state dispute settlement, which would give corporations the right to sue governments within the European Union for damages if regulations they felt were unfair caused them economic harm. It is something that businesses on both sides of the Atlantic have been pushing for. But European critics have assailed that provision as a Trojan horse for defeating their hard-won laws on consumer protection, labor and the environment, which in many cases are stronger than those in America. |
| The outcry led Mr. De Gucht, the European Union’s trade commissioner, to announce in January that he was hitting “the pause button” on investor-state dispute settlement and opening a period of public consultation on the provision. | The outcry led Mr. De Gucht, the European Union’s trade commissioner, to announce in January that he was hitting “the pause button” on investor-state dispute settlement and opening a period of public consultation on the provision. |
| Critics from outside the corporate sector had a rare chance to air their views on Wednesday, at an open forum sponsored by the European Commission. Some of the presentations from special interest groups illuminated just how tricky it might be to get a deal that comes close to satisfying most constituencies. | Critics from outside the corporate sector had a rare chance to air their views on Wednesday, at an open forum sponsored by the European Commission. Some of the presentations from special interest groups illuminated just how tricky it might be to get a deal that comes close to satisfying most constituencies. |
| Emily Rees, a trade specialist with the World Society for the Protection of Animals, said negotiators needed to address her organization’s concerns. | Emily Rees, a trade specialist with the World Society for the Protection of Animals, said negotiators needed to address her organization’s concerns. |
| “The E.U. has really high standards on animal welfare,” Ms. Rees said. “We believe animals are sentient beings.” | “The E.U. has really high standards on animal welfare,” Ms. Rees said. “We believe animals are sentient beings.” |
| Under the 28-nation bloc’s Lisbon Treaty, “animal welfare is enshrined as a core European value,” she said. “In America, farm animals are considered to be products.” | Under the 28-nation bloc’s Lisbon Treaty, “animal welfare is enshrined as a core European value,” she said. “In America, farm animals are considered to be products.” |
| Some American industrial farming practices, like raising calves, chickens and pigs in tightly confined conditions, are outlawed in Europe on humane grounds, she said. “There is legislation here that protects minimal standards for farm animals,” Ms. Rees said. “That is not the case in the United States, at least at the federal level.” | Some American industrial farming practices, like raising calves, chickens and pigs in tightly confined conditions, are outlawed in Europe on humane grounds, she said. “There is legislation here that protects minimal standards for farm animals,” Ms. Rees said. “That is not the case in the United States, at least at the federal level.” |
| With European parliamentary elections in May, and congressional elections in the United States in November, political leaders on both sides are tentative at the moment, said Peter van Ham, who follows trans-Atlantic relations at Clingendael, a research institute in The Hague. | With European parliamentary elections in May, and congressional elections in the United States in November, political leaders on both sides are tentative at the moment, said Peter van Ham, who follows trans-Atlantic relations at Clingendael, a research institute in The Hague. |
| “They were way more optimistic than they should have been when they got started,” he said. | “They were way more optimistic than they should have been when they got started,” he said. |
| For the moment, Mr. van Ham added, trade officials are probably unwilling to drop anything from their goals just to get a deal. But if there is no significant progress by the end of the year, ambitions will have to be scaled down to reach an agreement in 2015. | For the moment, Mr. van Ham added, trade officials are probably unwilling to drop anything from their goals just to get a deal. But if there is no significant progress by the end of the year, ambitions will have to be scaled down to reach an agreement in 2015. |
| “But I don’t think they’ll be able to sell that as a success,” he said. | “But I don’t think they’ll be able to sell that as a success,” he said. |
| The investor-state dispute settlement could be the first big item to be dropped from the agenda. Nicole Bricq, the French foreign trade minister, said that her government opposed the inclusion of the provision, and that if Mr. De Gucht wanted to insist on its inclusion, he would have to ask all 28 member states of the European Union for a specific mandate. There were also reports this week that Germany, whose support would be essential for any agreement, had decided that it could not back the provision. | |
| Mr. De Gucht has said that he will wait for the results of the public consultation before moving ahead. | |
| Officials said this week that it was remarkable that they were even having such a wide-ranging conversation, and that it was supported by the Socialist government of President François Hollande in France, as well as by Spain and Italy. And they said that they agreed on most of the substantive issues under discussion, meaning that it would be possible to meet their self-imposed deadline. | Officials said this week that it was remarkable that they were even having such a wide-ranging conversation, and that it was supported by the Socialist government of President François Hollande in France, as well as by Spain and Italy. And they said that they agreed on most of the substantive issues under discussion, meaning that it would be possible to meet their self-imposed deadline. |
| One thing both sides want to avoid is the dreaded “Doha situation,” a reference to the Doha round of talks on global trade, conducted through the World Trade Organization, that have gone nowhere since being started with great fanfare in 2001. | One thing both sides want to avoid is the dreaded “Doha situation,” a reference to the Doha round of talks on global trade, conducted through the World Trade Organization, that have gone nowhere since being started with great fanfare in 2001. |
| Mr. De Gucht, in an interview, said he was confident that the concerns that had been raised so far could be worked out. | |
| “It’s obvious that when you have trade negotiations you’ll have frictions,” Mr. De Gucht said, adding that there had been “substantial progress” in some areas. | “It’s obvious that when you have trade negotiations you’ll have frictions,” Mr. De Gucht said, adding that there had been “substantial progress” in some areas. |
| And despite the unease among the public and the inevitable jostling among corporate special interests, there is broad-based business support on both sides of the Atlantic. The European and American auto industries — responsible for about 10 percent of trade between the two areas — both strongly support the initiative. They called in a joint statement this week for “regulatory convergence” in auto safety tests and standards, urging regulators in the United States and Europe to accept each other’s findings, potentially saving the carmakers tens of millions of dollars in redundant testing. | |
| Executives in other industries — including food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and consumer goods — say similar regulatory cooperation could save tens of millions of dollars more, some of which they say could end up in shoppers’ pockets in the form of savings. | Executives in other industries — including food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and consumer goods — say similar regulatory cooperation could save tens of millions of dollars more, some of which they say could end up in shoppers’ pockets in the form of savings. |
| The two sides make the case that more trade would help to invigorate European growth and create more opportunities for American exporters. But there is also another reason they say the two trading partners should be pulling together: the growing weight of China in international economic affairs. | |
| They say that with China’s influence rising, the United States and Europe, which share many values, need to be — as one put it — “standard makers rather than standard takers.” |