“The European Union aims to complete trade talks with the U.S. within two years now that leaders on both sides of the Atlantic have pledged to move ahead, EU Trade CommissionerKarel De Gucht said.
A transatlantic trade deal is progressing after President Barack Obama promised to pursue an agreement to expand the world’s largest economic relationship in his State of the Union speech yesterday. The 27-nation EU says the accord will seek to lower tariffs, ease regulatory barriers and expand access in investment, services and public procurement.
“We are committed to making this relationship an even stronger driver of our prosperity,” Obama, EU President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Barroso said today in a joint statement. The EU may complete its preliminary work by mid-year, Barroso told a Brussels news conference.
The EU plans to present draft negotiating plans in March to kick-start the talks, which it says may lead to an accord that will add 86 billion euros ($116 billion) a year to the bloc’s economy. While trade and investment between the U.S. and the EU was valued at $4.5 trillion in 2011, the two governments have been at odds over issues including farm subsidies, health protections and regulatory standards.
