Brev vedr. TTIP fra 14 handelsministre til EU’s handelskommissær

21th
October 2014
Cecilia Malmström
Commissioner-designate for Trade
European Commission
BE-1049, Brussels
Belgium
Dear Mrs Malmström,
Last June EU and US leaders launched negotiations for the biggest bilateral trade deal in
history. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will add over €100bn to
EU GDP and has the potential to transform not just our own economies, but also the global
economy.
If we are to unlock the full potential of a TTIP deal, it must be comprehensive and ambitious.
That is why EU Member States agreed a far-reaching mandate as the basis for the
Commission to negotiate with the US Trade Representative.
TTIP negotiations have made good progress since then. Given the scope of the potential
deal, it is not surprising that TTIP has attracted considerable public debate, which we
welcome. We recognise that there are legitimate concerns about the negotiations. That is
why we collectively agreed, in the interests of transparency, to publish the TTIP mandate last
week.
However, many of the concerns about TTIP are based on misconceptions. For example, that
TTIP could undermine public services, undermine the right of national governments to
regulate, or undermine EU standards on food or health and safety. The response to those
criticisms - as some are calling for and tempting as it may be - should not be to jettison the
difficult issues. That will lead to a lowest common denominator deal at best or no deal at all.
Europe needs to think big and demonstrate clear leadership if we are to generate the growth
that we badly need and if we are to keep our place on the world stage. That means the
Commission and governments across the EU working with businesses and consumer
associations to tackle those myths head on.
One of the issues that has attracted criticism is investment protection. The Commission is
currently analysing the results of a public consultation on this issue and we look forward to
the Commission’s response. The consultation was an important step in ensuring that we
strike the correct balance to ensure that governments retain their full freedom to regulate, but
not in a way that discriminates unfairly against foreign firms. It is important that the outcome
of this consultation runs its course and we carefully consider the views expressed by our
stakeholders before reaching firm decisions on the way forward. The Council mandate is
clear in its inclusion of investor protection mechanisms in the TTIP negotiations; we need to
work together on how best to do so.
Europaudvalget 2013
(Omtryk - 03-11-2014 - Bilag vedhæftet) KOM (2013) 0136 Bilag 13
Offentligt
We are confident that you can achieve that goal and also secure our objectives across the
whole of the mandate that the Council has provided. We will work closely with the
Commission to achieve those aims.
Yours sincerely
Yiorgos Lakkotrypis
Ministry of Energy, Commerce,
Industry and Tourism
Jan Mládek
Minister for Industry and Trade
Industry and Tourism
Anne Sulling
Minister of Foreign Trade
and Enterpreneurship
Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and
Innovation
Minister of Foreign Affairs
CC: Jean-Claude Juncker
President Elect of the European Commission.
Jose Manuel Durao Barroso
President of the European Commission
Karel De Gucht
Commissioner for Trade of the European
Commission