Lithuania wants faster completion of TTIP negotiations between EU and US

“The TTIP is among our top priorities in the field of external trade. It is a unique project that offers an opportunity to strengthen the EU and US economies by creating an ambitious and open free trade area,” said Alminas Mačiulis.

According to the chancellor, the TTIP will create an appropriate response to the context of uncertainty and the lack of progress in the multilateral arena. “It is estimated that the TTIP agreement would increase the size of the US economy by around EUR 95 billion, and that of the EU, by as much as EUR 120 billion,” said the chancellor of the Government.

According to the chancellor, every trade and investment barrier that is removed will result in significant economic benefits to the citizens of both continents; therefore it is necessary to raise public awareness of mutually beneficial results that TTIP will deliver, and to speed up implementation of politically difficult decisions to conclude the negotiations as soon as possible.

Negotiations on the TTIP agreement were launched in Washington in 2013. Negotiations seek to remove trade barriers in various sectors of economy (customs tariffs, unnecessary regulation, restrictions on investment, etc.), thereby facilitating trade in goods and services in the EU and the US. The negotiating parties also aim at simplification of the investment environment, so that the EU and the US companies could invest into each other’s economies.

The EU and the US are the two largest economic entities in the world. They create almost half of the world’s GDP; and the investment and trade flows between the two continents are unmatched: the EU and US daily trade in goods and services is worth EUR 2 billion, and the transatlantic business secures around 15 million jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.

Both the EU and the US want to avoid lengthy negotiations; therefore it is considered that the agreement should be reached within several years since the start of the negotiations.