#TTIP #TAFTA #TPP #NOTTIP #STOPTAFTA
EU-US trade talks seen dragging on until mid-2016
As the European Union and the United States wrap up a week of talks
on the transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP) in
Washington, the EU still says it hopes to have something to show before
the European elections in May. But observers say the real, final
deadline is mid 2016, just before the US elections.
Partners on both sides of the Atlantic have expressed hope to finish
negotiations on the trade deal swiftly, perhaps even before the end of
this year.
But experts argue this target is over-optimistic. “There is no evidence
that they can get this done before [that date],” Bruce Stokes, director
of the global economic program at the Washington-based Pew Research
Center, told EurActiv.
The real deadline negotiators should focus on, Stokes said, “is
whether they can get it done before the presidential elections in the
US, in 2016.”
European and American representatives engaged in a stocktaking exercise in Washington this week on the negotiation process. A fourth round of talks in due in March, at an EU-US summit in Brussels.
