Tariffs, Lange: “Progress has been made, but there is still a long way to go” on the EU-US agreement

Brussels – “We have made good progress, but there is still a long way to go.” This was stated by the European Parliament’s chief negotiator, Germany’s Bernd Lange (of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats), following the second round of negotiations with the Council of the European Union—the governments of the EU-27—to reach an agreement on the EU-US trade deal on tariffs. 

“We have just concluded a second constructive trilogue, during which we made good progress on the issue of the safeguard mechanism and on the review and evaluation of the main regulation, but there is still a long way to go,” explained Lange. “We will continue to work swiftly and responsibly on the two legislative proposals to ensure that the letter and spirit of the Turnberry Agreement are respected, in full compliance with our democratic rules, procedures and timelines. The next trilogue will take place on 19 May in Strasbourg,” he added. “We remain more determined than ever to promote and defend Parliament’s mandate in order to provide further safeguards that will benefit citizens and businesses in both the EU and the US,” he concluded.

 For its part, the European Commission acknowledges that further work is needed. “We welcome the fact that yesterday, during the negotiations, we made substantial progress towards a final agreement. And we expect that the next round of negotiations, which will take place by the end of the month, will hopefully lead to a final agreement“, commented European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier during the daily press briefing today, 7 May. 

And the EU Trade Commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, has observed: “We are making considerable progress and have already achieved a lot—although, of course, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”