About 150 negotiators in 24 working groups, including working groups on the opening of the market for agricultural products, energy and raw materials, competition, services, public procurement, customs and trade facilitation, rules of origin, veterinary and phytosanitary measures are ready to enter these very important and intense negotiations.
The EU and U.S. have spent the past year preparing for the free trade agreement negotiations. The bilateral EU-U.S. High Level Working Group was specially set up to explore the opportunities and benefits that would result from such an agreement. At the beginning of 2013, the EU-U.S. High Level Working Group recommended that negotiations should aim for a comprehensive trade and investment agreement and seek to achieve ambitious outcomes in three broad areas: a) market access; b) regulatory issues and non-tariff barriers; and c) rules, principles, and new modes of cooperation to address shared global trade challenges and opportunities.
On 14th June, the EU Member States adopted the decision on the negotiating directives (mandate), which allowed the European Commission to conduct the negotiations with the U.S.A., and on 17th June the EU and the United States announced the official start of these negotiations.
The European Commission estimates that the conclusion of such an agreement between the EU and the US would bring an overall annual increase of 0.5 percent in GDP for the EU. The EU exports of goods and services to the U.S. would go up by 28 percent (equivalent of USD187 billion). The EU would receive additional income of USD 119 billion a year.
