EESC member Stefano Mallia has been appointed to the EU – US monitoring group that has been set up by the EESC. The role of this contact group is to monitor on behalf of civil society and the business community the current negotiations concerning the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (better known as the TTIP) and to create awareness of related key issues. The monitoring group, which is made up of just 9 EESC members, has also been tasked to take a wider role in terms of monitoring other important EU – US developments outside of TTIP, for example in the spheres of combatting terrorism and data protection. Given that TTIP negotiations are expected to be concluded by 2016, TTIP will of course be at the top of the monitoring group’s agenda for the months to come.
The negotiation of the TTIP is considered to be the most important EU trade negotiation being conducted to date and the agreement itself is being hailed as potentially transforming Trans-Atlantic trade relations for decades to come.
The European Economic and Social Committee is taking a very active interest in the development of the negotiations currently underway and is being seen by the European Commission as a key partner in ensuring that the European business community and Civil Society are kept well informed on all the developments as they happen. The EESC is also undertaking a number of initiatives to provide as much information as is possible to ensure that a proper and detailed debate on TTIP takes place. The monitoring group will be engaging with policy makers and key negotiators not only in Europe but also in the United States where a number of meetings are planned to take place over the coming months.
Commenting on his appointment to the monitoring group Mallia said “ I am obviously very pleased to have been asked to represent the interests of employers in this restricted group. TTIP is being considered as the biggest and most important project that will take place between the EU and the US over the next decade. Over the past few months I have already been engaged in the discussions on TTIP and in fact as the employers’ group organised a public event in Malta on TTIP and its potential importance for our economy. The benefits resulting from such an agreement (if concluded) could potentially be enormous for the European economy. We cannot afford to get it wrong and this is exactly why the European business community is taking a very keen interest in the progress of the negotiations.”
The first meeting of the monitoring group took place last week during which an exchange of views on the progress of TTIP took place with Mr. Fernando Perreau de Pinninck, Head of Unit at DG Trade This was followed by another exchange of views with Mr Fernando Andresen Guimarães, Head of Division for the US and Canada within the European External Action Service (EEAS) where the security situation in Libya and the Mediterranean was also discussed.