Published: Mon, 11 August 2014
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Having secured membership of the European Parliament’s International Trade Committee, Sean Kelly MEP will be focused on crucial ongoing trade talks during the new mandate.
“The EU is at a crucial point now as negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a trade agreement between the European Union and the United States, are continuing along with another trade deal with the Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela).”
“Both the TTIP and Mercosur talks will have an impact EU-wide on overall trade, with particular reference to agriculture and that is something that Ireland is keeping a close eye on,” Mr Kelly said.
The South MEP said the proposed deal between the EU and US could create 2 million new jobs in Europe, increase GDP by 0.05 per cent and effectively benefit every EU family by €550 per year. “Every family across Ireland and the EU stands to benefit from the equivalent of an extra €550 per year if the proposed EU-US trade deal goes ahead.
“There are concerns regarding certain aspects of the deal but that is why all stakeholders are being consulted and negotiations are continuing.”
In relation to Mercosur, Mr Kelly explained the objective is to negotiate a comprehensive trade agreement, covering not only trade in industrial and agricultural goods but also services, improvement of rules on government procurement, intellectual property, customs and trade facilitation, technical barriers to trade.
EU exports to the Mercosur region have steadily increased over the last years, rising from €28 billion in 2007 to €57 billion in 2013.
“The EU trade deal with Canada, CETA, to remove 99 per cent of all tariffs is also of interest to Ireland and I, along with my colleagues on the International Trade Committee and Industry Committee, will be following the final negotiations closely. A political agreement has already been reached in this regard.”
Mr Kelly is also a full member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy.
