LOC15:07
12:07 GMT
Parliament President Martin Schulz
BRUSSELS, May 23 (KUNA) -- The European Parliament Thursday voted to
support negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade Investment Partnership
agreement between the European Union and the United States.
Some 460 members voted in favour and 105 against the resolution, noted an
EP statement.
Parliament President Martin Schulz in a statement said "negotiations on a
free trade agreement between the European Union and the United States should
start as soon as possible, because a deal will bring huge benefits to both
sides."
"Together, the EU and U.S. account for half of the world's economic output
and a third of global trade but there is still enormous potential in our
economic ties," he said.
The resolution says that because the talks will focus on differences
between the two sides' laws and standards, which create the biggest barriers
to transatlantic trade, it cautions that EU values must be defended in the
negotiations.
These values include food safety, such as genetically-modified organisms
(GMOs), cloning, intellectual property rights and protection for personal data.
It also says that the EU's labour and environmental standards should not be
undermined.
The resolution stresses that cultural and audiovisual services, including
online ones, be excluded from the EU-US trade talks in order to protect the
cultural and linguistic diversity of EU countries. (end)
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