EU Council of Ministers approves historic mandate authorizing the European Commission to negotiate a comprehensive trade and investment agreement with the United States.
On 14 June 2013, the Council of the European Union (also known as the Council of Ministers), convened its Foreign Affairs Council (Trade) and adopted a mandate authorizing the European Commission to negotiate a comprehensive trade and investment agreement with the United States ("TTIP"). Read PDF » The mandate was approved following a 13-hour meeting of trade ministers and other representatives of the Member States in Luxembourg. Participants included representatives of the 27 Member States of the EU, and a representative of accession state Republic of Croatia, as listed in the provisional version of the statement of main results of the Council for 14 June 2013. Read PDF » According to the Council's provisional statement: "The negotiations will strive for a comprehensive and ambitious agreement that addresses a broad range of bilateral trade and investment issues, including regulatory issues, with the aim of attaining market access that goes beyond what the US and the EU have achieved in previous trade agreements. The removal of unnecessary regulatory and non-tariff barriers will be a key objective." The historic mandate was achieved during the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The chair of the Council meeting on 14 June 2013, Richard Bruton TD (Ireland's Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation), observed: "Reaching agreement among EU Trade Ministers on the terms of the EU's negotiating mandate has been a top priority for the Irish Presidency since January." Read PDF »