Socialists and Democrats on EU-US trade agreement: „Fairness is key“

A delegation from the Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament travelled to Mexico City, New York City and Washington DC, for high-level talks on European and international trade and security issues.

Concerning the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), Hannes Swoboda, president of the S&D Group, said:

„We support a trade agreement between the EU and the US as it would spur growth and create jobs on both sides of the Atlantic and would be particularly beneficial for smaller and medium-sized enterprises.

„However, data privacy is a crucial concern for us – particularly since the latest revelations on Prism and other programmes. Without satisfactory controls to guarantee data security for citizens and companies in Europe we do not see a future for EU-US trade agreement.“

On the international dimension of an EU-US agreement Hannes Swoboda added:

„An agreement between the EU and US would also have consequences for our respective regional partners. Talks with the Mexican government and senate have confirmed that we must not only ensure that this trade agreement is beneficial to all partners affected, but that we must also update the agreement between the EU and Mexico. Fairness towards all of our trade partners is key to achieving a balanced and beneficial agreement that will set the agenda for global trade.“