[CTC] Chief Negotiator Says EU To Investigate TTIP Leak, Implies Strong U.S. Reaction

[Arthur Stamoulis]

INSIDE US TRADE
Chief Negotiator Says EU To Investigate TTIP Leak, Implies Strong U.S. Reaction

May 03, 2016 
The chief negotiator for the European Union Ignacio Garcia Bercero on Monday (May 2) told reporters that the EU will investigate the leak of negotiating proposals for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which he said is an “issue of concern” for the EU side given that it reveals detailed U.S. negotiating positions that the Obama administration has tried to shield from outside scrutiny.

“It's certainly an issue of concern that a document like that [which] is obviously confidential because it displays in quite a lot of detail the positions of our negotiating partner ... it is certainly an issue of concern that it has leaked the way it has,” he said after Greenpeace Netherlands posted the leaked documents on the internet.

He noted that the U.S. has always insisted that its proposals are not divulged to the public. But the U.S. also insisted <https://insidetrade.com/node/151434> on denying members of the European Parliament and members of national parliaments access to the proposals. In the end, the U.S. and EU agreed to provide consolidated texts to these officials in secure reading rooms.

Garcia Bercero acknowledged that the investigation could take time since the documents were retyped from the leaked originals to ensure they could not be traced.

He also made clear that no response from the U.S. will impact the format of the negotiations and the availability of reading rooms. “We expect and anticipate that there will be a reaction from the United States' side, but the reading rooms available to MEPs and for the member states will be maintained.”

He repeatedly said that he is not going to speculate about the U.S. response to the leak, but noted that it presents an issue for the ongoing negotiations.

“It is a problem for the forthcoming negotiations,” he said. “The United States always made very clear to us that they expected that these documents that would be available … it was always expected that member states would take the necessary measures to ensure the protection of the confidentiality of those documents,” he said. “And that we see … for some reasons has not happened.”

However, White House Spokesman Josh Earnest this week downplayed the impact of the leak by insisting that it will not interfere with the administration's goal of concluding TTIP this year. “[O]ur focus is on trying to complete these negotiations by the end of the year,” Earnest said in the May 2 press briefing. “I don't think there's anything about this leak that's going to have a material impact on our ability to do that.”

He noted that President Obama reiterated the goal of a 2016 TTIP conclusion during his trip to Europe in April even though there will be no congressional action. “I do not anticipate that we're going to be able to get Congress to act on it and have this agreement going into effect before the President leaves office,” Earnest said.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also downplayed the importance and charged that non-governmental organizations are misrepresenting the issues revealed by the documents.

“Claims that these allegedly leaked documents include alarming revelations are off base. First, the NGOs commenting on the documents either don’t understand or are willfully misrepresenting the aims of the TTIP, which certainly will uphold high health, safety, and environmental standards,” John Murphy, senior vice president for International Policy, said in a statement.

The Obama administration has described their goals for TTIP in the most general way, even in briefings for cleared advisers. But Murphy insisted that that the information now available to the public through the leaks was previously available in documents and briefings. “Those claiming a ‘scoop’ don’t seem to have been paying close attention to the large volume of public documents and briefings previously made available,” he said. “This is much ado about nothing.”

Garcia Bercero, when asked about what the leak would mean for the trust between the U.S. and EU, sidestepped the question but insisted their mutual trust was evident during the 13th negotiating round in New York City.

“I can assure you there is a very good understanding, a mutual trust between the two negotiating teams,” he said. “Obviously each of the teams defends very strongly its interest ... but I don't think there is a problem at all of trust between the two negotiating teams.”
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