Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The 13th formal round of the EU-US free trade negotiations took place from 25 April to 29 April 2016 in New York. Progress was made on the two texts on regulatory co-operation and good regulatory practices. Substantial progress was achieved on the small and medium-sized enterprise chapter and on the provisions of customs and trade facilitation.

This would simplify customs procedures and reduce fees and charges, to the benefit of Irish SMEs in particular. There was also progress in consolidating textual proposals on the sustainable development chapter, which includes labour and the environment, and on the investment chapter. Extensive discussions also took place on public procurement. Discussions covered mutual recognition agreements for professional services and significant progress was made on the consolidation of the text.

Ireland’s enterprises are particularly well placed to take up opportunities to trade more easily with the US, which will build on our already rewarding economic relationship and will also generate new opportunities to create employment and continue to grow our economy. Studies have shown that the benefits to Ireland will be proportionally greater than in the EU as a whole.

The 14th negotiating round is due to take place the week of 11-15 July 2016 in Brussels. The pivotal and overarching objective is to negotiate an ambitious, high standard agreement that responds to both EU and US interests.

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