Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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221. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his position regarding Members of the European Parliament not being allowed to access documentation on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12215/16]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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There been a strong emphasis on openness and transparency during the EU-US trade negotiating rounds. The EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström has initiated a transparency initiative that includes making public all EU negotiating texts and textual proposals in relation to the EU-US free trade negotiations. The EU Commission has also published summaries and clear explanations about its objectives in the negotiations and publishes detailed and extensive reports of the negotiations on its website in all EU official languages. Additionally, all categories of confidential documents relating to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership have been made available to Members of the European Parliament in a secure reading room at the European Parliament during the negotiating phase of the agreement. The decision to make this information available marks the first time that MEPs have been able to access all of the documents used during the negotiation phase of a trade agreement. In addition to the facilities provided to MEPs, a Reading Room has been established in the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation where the consolidated texts, which incorporate US and EU textual proposals for different negotiating chapters of the EU-US agreement, have been made available to members of the Oireachtas.

It is my hope that the concerted effort which has been made by the Commission and national Governments to increase transparency and openness with regards to the EU-US Trade Agreement will facilitate the process of parliamentary scrutiny and encourage informed and constructive debate both here in Ireland and across the EU.