Deutsche Welle, 17 June 2013
The US and EU have launched negotiations for a free-trade deal as the G-8 conference begins in Northern Ireland. A concession on creative pursuits helped to keep France on board.
The US and EU have launched negotiations for a free-trade deal as the G-8 conference begins in Northern Ireland. A concession on creative pursuits helped to keep France on board.
The first
round of negotiations toward the free-trade deal will take place in Washington
in July, US President Barack Obama said, speaking at the Group of Eight summit
near the Northern Ireland town of Enniskillen. Currently valued at nearly $3
billion (2.25 billion euros), trade between Europe and the United States could
a boost of over $100 billion a year for each side.
"This
is a once-in-a-generation prize, and we are determined to seize it,"
British Prime Minister David Cameron said, flanked by US President Barack Obama
and the leaders of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso (left in
photo), and the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy (right).
Considered
decades ago but vetoed by France in the 1990s, an EU-US deal has gathered momentum
as the two sides both seek independent growth, as well as protection against a
rising China. The United States and the European Commission, the executive body
of the 27-member EU, hope for a free-trade deal by the end of 2014 - a tight
deadline in complex international trade talks that usually take many years. The
European Union and the United States already account for about half the world's
economic output and nearly a third of world trade, and bringing down the final
barriers to trade could unleash billions of dollars in transatlantic business.
"These
negotiations will not always be easy, but I am sure they will be worth
it," Barroso said. "The current economic climate requires us to join
forces and to do more with less."
France
rescinds no
France had
also threatened to block the start of these talks until Friday, when the other
26 EU governments accepted the country's demand to shield movies and online
entertainment from the might of Hollywood and Silicon Valley.
"It is
important that we get it right, and that means resisting the temptation to
downsize our ambitions or avoid tough issues just for the sake of getting a
deal," Obama said on Monday, with a possible nod to the French concession.
The
London-based Centre for Economic Policy Research estimates that the
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership could boost the EU and US
economies respectively by 119 billion euros and 95 billion euros a year.
However, a report commissioned by Germany's nonprofit Bertelsmann Foundation
and published on Monday, found that the United States could benefit more than
Europe. A deal could increase GDP per capita in the United States by 13 percent
over the long term but by only 5 percent on average for the European Union, the
study found.
Any
potential lopsidedness was left out of Monday's talks, with the focus squarely
on potential financial benefits for both sides.
"We
cannot expect to harvest new jobs today," Van Rompuy said. "We can
plant the seeds for the jobs of tomorrow."
mkg/dr (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)
Related Articles:
Opinion: Not everyone wins with EU-US free trade - New
US-EU trade deal: How it affects you
Europe and US launch plans for ambitious transatlantic trade deal
David Cameron and Barack Obama visit a primary school in
Enniskillen ahead of the G8 summit. Photograph: Matt
Dunham/PA
|
Related Articles:
Opinion: Not everyone wins with EU-US free trade - New
US-EU trade deal: How it affects you
Europe and US launch plans for ambitious transatlantic trade deal
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.