EU Trade Council under Irish Chairmanship secures discussion mandate for EU – US Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement (TTIP)
Fine Gael TD for Wicklow and Chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Andrew Doyle, has said the trade negotiations overseen by Ireland during its Presidency of the EU have been massively successful and will result in a huge trade benefit for Ireland. Deputy Doyle said significant process has been made on all pending agreements throughout Ireland’s six month tenure.
“The prevailing theme of the Irish Presidency of the EU is the contribution trade will make to jobs, growth, and economic recovery. Increasing trade represents one of the few ways to promote economic growth without the need to draw on public finances, which are severely constrained. It is for this reason that Ireland attaches great importance to promoting the EU’s external trade agenda. This will produce steady jobs growth for businesses in County Wicklow.”
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD, who has been leading the trade discussions on the EU’s behalf has stated that the trade negotiations which are underway or planned could increase EU GDP by more than 2%, or €250 billion, and support an increase of more than 2 million trade related jobs across the EU.”
Deputy Doyle said, “Numerous international companies in Wicklow are dependent on foreign trade, and these new agreements will not only benefit those companies but will also attract new business to the county.”
“Discussions on trade with the US, the EU’s biggest trading partner, are progressing well. President Obama endorsed the free trade talks with the EU in his State of the Union address of this year, after Ireland secured a mandate for the talks, set to commence in Washington on 8th July 2013. This came after the EU-US High Level Working Group on Jobs and Growth concluded that a comprehensive agreement on a broad range of bilateral trade and investment issues, including regulatory issues, and contributing to the creation of global rules, would produce the most significant mutual benefits.”
“There are a number of US companies in Wicklow already, and these new trade agreements will greatly benefit people in Wicklow working for US companies and may attract further US investment into the county.”
“Elsewhere, negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with Canada are almost concluded, with negotiators currently meeting to progress the final stages of an agreement. Additionally, trade talks are progressing under Irelands watch for trade agreements between the EU and various Asian nations, particularly Japan and Singapore. Trade agreements with other ASEAN countries are at various stages of maturity, with Ireland achieving huge progress during its term of office. Negotiations with India, a key strategic partner for the EU continue, with Ireland working with the Lithuania Government to ensure a smooth transition on the talks, as they prepare to take on the Presidency.”
“The Irish EU Presidency has yielded significant movement on the key issue of international trade and its contribution to growth, jobs, and the economic recovery. With the majority of talks set to conclude before the end of 2014, Ireland and Wicklow in particular, can expect to start reaping the benefits in the coming years”, concluded Deputy Doyle.