Source: EU DELEGATION, 5/11/16

EU and U.S. negotiators wrapped up the 13th round of negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) at the end of April in New York. Ignacio García Bercero, EU Chief Negotiator for TTIP, characterized this round as “a bridging round, between the huge amount of technical work we have already done, and the task we now face of creating joint texts and finding compromises where necessary, in particular in the regulatory and rules pillars.”

The EU’s goal is to make progress as quickly as possible toward concluding the TTIP negotiations in 2016, according to Cecilia Malmström, EU Trade Commissioner. However, much more work remains, she said, stressing that “substance is more important than speed. In the end, TTIP needs to be a solid and balanced agreement which creates business opportunities on both sides of the Atlantic, offering more choice for our consumers and strengthening our hand on the global stage.”

The European Commission’s report on the state of play of the TTIP negotiations was released on April 27. The next negotiating round—number 14—is expected to be scheduled for July in Europe.