TTIP Moribund or Still Alive Because of  Brexit?

With the fallout from Brexit still uncertain, European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström made it clear that TTIP will see the chaos through. In an event at the Atlantic Council on June 29, Malmström spoke about the current status of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations as well as the trade agreement’s future in light of the potential exit of Europe’s second-largest economy.

Not only did Malmström make clear that she plans to forge ahead with TTIP despite Brexit, but she also said she plans to do so quickly: she wants to have negotiations wrapped up by the end of the Obama administration. Underscoring her willingness to compromise, Malmström said, “We will do whatever we can to make sure that we make as much progress as possible in the coming months.” She hopes that the EU and the US can achieve a completed package that the next president can then act upon. She avoided making any comments about the candidates’ positions on free trade, however she noted that, despite general anti-free trade sentiment in the US, there appears to be more interest in pursuing the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with Pacific Rim countries than in pursuing TTIP. After detailing all of the potential positives for both the EU and the US that come with accomplishing TTIP, she said, “it will be hard to justify having closer trade relations with Asia than with Europe.”

Malmström also touched upon the idea of the EU having to negotiate trade deals with the UK after they leave the EU. She said she did not know exactly where that would fall on DG TRADE’s list of priorities, but that that is something they would address when the time comes. She said that, before trade deals with the UK are approached, the UK needs to decide “what kind of relationship it wants to have with the EU.” She acknowledged that the consequences of Brexit would not be fully understood for years to come, but her main priority at the current time is to move forward on TTIP.

The next round of negotiations will begin the week of July 11 in Brussels.