B|Brief TTIP Round 2 (6 Dec 2013)

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DECEMBER 6, 2013

TTIP NEGOTIATIONS: A SUMMARY OF ROUND 2 BY KARA SUTTON Making Progress Amid Delays Second-round talks between US and EU negotiators originally scheduled for October 6-10 were postponed to November 11-15 due to the US government shutdown. The talks, held in Brussels, focused on four areas: services, investment, regulatory issues, and energy and raw materials. Video conferences on other key issues were also held during the week and continued through the latter half of November and early December. The Brussels negotiations concluded with some agreements, allowing discussions on the actual treaty text for many subject areas to begin in December.

Takeaways 

The second round was explorative and consisted of identifying points of potential convergence by building on progress made since July’s first round of negotiations. US and EU negotiators also discussed via video conference into early December areas such as competition, intellectual property and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The latest talks included priorities pertaining to market access in the services sector. Headway was made on cross-border services, telecommunications and e-commerce. In a shift from Washington’s initial reluctance to incorporate financial regulation into the TTIP, negotiators held a special session on financial-services regulation on November 27.

The US demonstrated a strong interest in regulatory issues by bringing more than 50 US officials to the meetings in Brussels, many of whom represented agencies, outside of USTR, that deal with such issues. They expressed optimism about agreements for the automobile and pharmaceutical sectors and were bullish about an accord on technical barriers to trade (TBTs) that would extend beyond current World Trade Organization (WTO) regulations.

Potential Sticking Points 

Nine US Senators asked in a bipartisan letter sent to US Trade Representative Michael Froman before the round that agriculture remain a top priority in any agreement.


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