Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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352. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if she will provide a report on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP, and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, discussions that took place at Foreign Affairs Council meeting on 13 May 2016; if the leak of TTIP documents by Greenpeace was discussed; and if the rejection of CETA by the Walloon Parliament and the passing of a motion in the Dutch Parliament rejecting the provisional application of CETA were discussed. [12111/16]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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At the recent Minister’s Trade Council meeting on the 13th May 2016, the Council had an exchange of views on the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the process towards signature and provisional application of the agreement. The European Commission and Member States highlighted the high quality of the agreement reached with Canada and expressed the desire to work towards signature of the agreement at the October EU-Canada Summit. The Commission announced its intention to present a Council decision on signature of CETA before the end of June 2016.

The Council was informed about the latest developments regarding the EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations, including prospects for conclusion of the negotiations under the Obama administration. Member States considered that maintaining a high level of ambition in these negotiations was just as important as the ambitious timetable. They urged the Commission to advance the negotiations, whilst fully respecting its negotiating mandate and the EU interests.

The documentation referred to by the Deputy represent both the EU and the US’s negotiation positions and do not reflect the final outcome of the ongoing negotiations.’ The other matters referred to by the Deputy are matters for the National Parliaments of those countries.

John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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353. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if the Government is supportive of the negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership trade proposals given the serious concerns regarding them; her views on the issue of cattle hormone therapy, which is allowed in the United States but not in the European Union; and her views on how it is being dealt with in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations. [12234/16]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The proposed EU-US agreement is one of a number of new style trade agreements the EU is negotiating that not only covers tariffs, services and investment but also includes regulatory coherence and cooperation. An EU-US agreement would be the world’s largest bilateral trade and investment deal, and a successful conclusion is expected to benefit Ireland more than any other EU Member State. As Ireland continues to rely on external demand and international markets for sustainable growth and market access, regulatory cooperation and reduced tariffs are essential to grow our exports. Ireland strongly supports these negotiations and is working to ensure that our interests are fully reflected in the texts of the negotiations.

One of the objectives in the EU–US Trade Agreement is greater regulatory coherence to ease red tape for firms. This will not be at the expense of consumers or lowering standards. There will be no dilution of labour or environment standards, no change to GMO regulation, no affect on the Government’s right to regulate and no interference in Public Service provision. This has been reinforced by a joint declaration from EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström and the US Trade Representative Mike Froman who confirmed that U.S. and EU trade agreements do not prevent governments, at any level, from providing or supporting services in areas such as water, education, health, and social services.

Although regulatory compatibility is a key goal EU-US free trade agreement, it is not an objective of the negotiations to achieve mutual recognition and harmonisation of food standards between the EU and the US. Nor is there any intention on the part of the EU to abandon the precautionary principle or the EU’s system of controls along the food chain. These are deeply embedded in EU legislative policy. Indeed the “precautionary principle” is the policy driver of European policy on food safety. The Commission have also made it very clear that the EU will not change our food safety legislation under an EU-US Trade Agreement.

In the case of Hormone Treated Beef, meat from the United States would be marketable in Europe only if it is hormone free. If it has been treated with hormones, it would be prohibited for sale in the EU. This is the current position and will continue to be the case after any agreement. The Commission has made it clear that it will not countenance the importation of hormone treated meat into the EU and this is well understood by the US side. Legislation in force regarding the prohibition of hormonally active substances in livestock farming will in no way be put in question.

Owing to our position as a small open economy, Ireland’s enterprises are particularly well placed to take up opportunities to trade more easily with the US. An independent study commissioned by this Department, carried out by Copenhagen Economics, estimates that these benefits in Ireland will be proportionally greater than in the EU as a whole. The study estimates that the benefits in Ireland will be proportionally greater than in the EU as a whole. It suggests a boost to GDP of 1.1%, growth in Irish exports of almost 4%, increases in investment of 1.5%, and an increase in real wages of 1.5%. It estimates somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 additional export related jobs. The findings are backed up in a report by Ecorys Consultancy, published on 13th May 2016, which estimates that an EU-US free trade agreement would boost Irish GDP by 1.4 per cent.

The opportunities will be especially valuable for SMEs, given that trade barriers tend to disproportionately burden smaller firms, which have fewer resources to overcome them than larger firms. In fact, the study reported that a trans-Atlantic agreement would have a more significant positive impact on SMEs than on other types of business. The final agreement will have an entire chapter exclusively dedicated to SMEs aimed at addressing those specific constraints that might otherwise limit SMEs taking full advantage of the improved EU-US trade agreement market access.