TTIP negotiations: European Parliament sends strong and clear recommendations

"Today's vote on the recommendations on the negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership was good for the European Parliament and was good for TTIP.

Today's resolution spells out clearly what a good TTIP would look like: what should and should not be in the final text to receive the needed consent of the European Parliament.

Today's recommendations map out the European Parliament's red lines and the areas where the EU is more clearly set to gain in this transatlantic negotiation, going into both content and procedures.

The European Parliament clearly stated that it will not accept an agreement that threatens or lowers any standard, be it for workers, social affairs, health, the environment, animal welfare or cultural diversity. It will not accept an agreement which might imperil its right to regulate on public policies. The European Parliament will never accept levelling down standards.

The European Parliament also succeeded in seeing through the thorny issue of the Investor State Dispute Settlement-system. An agreement has been reached to replace the old system with a new system for resolving disputes between investors and states, effectively making private arbitration a thing of the past. This will ensure that private interests will not undermine public policy objectives.

This new system must be subject to democratic principles and scrutiny. Potential cases will be treated in a transparent manner by publicly appointed, independent, professional judges in public hearings. The system must also include an appellate mechanism, where consistency of judicial decisions is ensured.

Today's vote gives a much-needed renewed impetus to transatlantic negotiations. It shows that the European Parliament stands behind an open and trading Europe: one that wants to shape the world of tomorrow, one that creates new jobs of quality and confidently seizes the opportunities other markets offer, increasing its competitiveness, whilst defending its standards, culture and social model."