ACEA attends TTIP public hearings

On 27 January, European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) Secretary General Erik Jonnaert attended the latest European Parliament hearings on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
The hearing was jointly hosted by the Legal Affairs (JURI) and International Trade (INTA) committees under the title, ‘TTIP: Regulatory aspects and investor to state dispute settlement and arbitration’.
The purpose of the hearing was to focus on the enforcement of TTIP’s investment protection provisions and the possible alternatives to the contentious investor-to-state dispute settlement mechanism, and on the regulatory coherence and regulatory cooperation.
Giving a presentation during the second part of the public hearing focusing on regulatory convergence, Mr Jonnaert said, “The European automotive industry is fully aligned with its US-based counterparts in seeking a comprehensive package from the TTIP negotiations. Our aims include both the elimination of tariffs and non-tariff barriers through regulatory convergence.”
Automotive products represent 10% of EU-US trade by value.
Mr Jonnaert added, “A successful TTIP would allow the automotive industry to both protect and add jobs without lowering safety or environmental standards.”