This week’s European Union
election results are likely to complicate the European push to
negotiate a trade agreement with the U.S., according to people following
the talks.
The elections for the European Parliament showed gains for nationalist parties and politicians who want the EU to play a smaller role in the affairs of individual countries on the continent. The legislative body, which has gained greater clout in recent years, has to approve trade deals hammered out by EU officials in Brussels.
The most vocal supporter of a trade deal with the U.S., the center-right European People’s Party, is expected to hold 213 seats in the new Parliament, down from 274 seats. In turn, a swell of new, largely unaffiliated lawmakers will join the body, many of them skeptical of the EU’s scope and powers.
“The new members of the European Parliament will be more critical and demanding during the trade negotiations,” said the EU ambassador to the U.S., João Vale de Almeida.
Regulations coming out of Brussels are a frequent target of so-called euroskeptic parties, and the broader regulations that EU officials are hoping to agree upon with their Washington may face similar resistance. Another risk is the rise of anti-American rhetoric from growing groups on the far right and left.
Marine le Pen, the head of the National Front party that dominated the elections in France, called on President Francois Hollande this week to pull the country out of the talks to form an U.S.-E.U. trade bloc, known as the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP.
The tone of the negotiations with the U.S. could be affected by which leaders are chosen for the EU’s executive body and the key trade commissioner positions in Brussels, observers say.
Last year, President Barack Obama and European leaders formally launched negotiations to form the trade bloc.
The trade and investment pact is billed as a way to clear the economic hangover of the financial crisis, set trade rules that serve as an example for emerging markets including China and reinvigorate transatlantic ties at a time when Russia is asserting itself in neighboring countries.
Almost immediately, the spying disclosures of former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden soured the talks. Officials agreed to handle spying and most privacy issues outside the trade talks.
Read more: European Elections Likely to Complicate Trade Talks With U.S. - Real Time Economics - WSJ
The elections for the European Parliament showed gains for nationalist parties and politicians who want the EU to play a smaller role in the affairs of individual countries on the continent. The legislative body, which has gained greater clout in recent years, has to approve trade deals hammered out by EU officials in Brussels.
The most vocal supporter of a trade deal with the U.S., the center-right European People’s Party, is expected to hold 213 seats in the new Parliament, down from 274 seats. In turn, a swell of new, largely unaffiliated lawmakers will join the body, many of them skeptical of the EU’s scope and powers.
“The new members of the European Parliament will be more critical and demanding during the trade negotiations,” said the EU ambassador to the U.S., João Vale de Almeida.
Regulations coming out of Brussels are a frequent target of so-called euroskeptic parties, and the broader regulations that EU officials are hoping to agree upon with their Washington may face similar resistance. Another risk is the rise of anti-American rhetoric from growing groups on the far right and left.
Marine le Pen, the head of the National Front party that dominated the elections in France, called on President Francois Hollande this week to pull the country out of the talks to form an U.S.-E.U. trade bloc, known as the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP.
The tone of the negotiations with the U.S. could be affected by which leaders are chosen for the EU’s executive body and the key trade commissioner positions in Brussels, observers say.
Last year, President Barack Obama and European leaders formally launched negotiations to form the trade bloc.
The trade and investment pact is billed as a way to clear the economic hangover of the financial crisis, set trade rules that serve as an example for emerging markets including China and reinvigorate transatlantic ties at a time when Russia is asserting itself in neighboring countries.
Almost immediately, the spying disclosures of former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden soured the talks. Officials agreed to handle spying and most privacy issues outside the trade talks.
Read more: European Elections Likely to Complicate Trade Talks With U.S. - Real Time Economics - WSJ
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