Ambassador Gardner Discusses T-TIP and More with EP’s International Trade Committee
“Due to Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and Russia’s continuing aggression in Eastern Ukraine which has manufactured a tragic humanitarian crisis, the importance of further European integration and of closer transatlantic cooperation is now more evident than ever,” U.S. Ambassador to the EU Gardner told the EP’s International Trade Committee on September 3. “And the urgency of greater European defense spending, a unified European energy policy, and also a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement (T-TIP) is now even more compelling. The transatlantic partnership has deepened at times of crisis, and this time is no different. The only relevant question for us is: will we seize the opportunities?”
With T-TIP, he said, “we have a window of opportunity during the next few years to set a standard for future regional and global trade deals that reflect our shared support for rules-based trade, high standards and regulatory transparency and accountability. If we fail, other countries who do not share our values and whose weight in the international trading system is growing fast will set the agenda themselves.”
Source: US Mission to EU
