TTIP Update
Set to meet in New York next week (20-24 April) for the ninth round of talks on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), negotiators are determined to make progress on all strands of the deal, but particularly on regulatory cooperation, EurActiv wrote.

“We will discuss most of the issues we are negotiating within TTIP. But we will try to advance as much as possible on the regulatory component of TTIP—the most economically relevant complex and labour intensive,” said chief EU TTIP negotiator Ignacio Garcia Bercero, in an interview with EurActiv.

Pushed by political leaders to end the talks before the United States enters campaign mode next year, negotiators are working around the clock to make sure they do whatever it takes to hammer out a deal which is supposed to cut down costs and open markets, especially for SMEs.

“Whether it is going to be possible to conclude TTIP or not, I will not make a prediction on that. But it is clear that we will try to bring those negotiations as far as possible in 2015,” commented Bercero, saying he received assurance from his counterpart that the Obama administration would still be able to negotiate in 2016.

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