Cultural exception debate overshadows launch of EU-US trade negotiations
Diplomats still sure that a mandate will be agreed.
Trade ministers from the European Union will gather on Friday (14 June) to approve talks on a transatlantic trade deal, knowing that the formal launch of the EU’s largest-ever trade negotiations is being overshadowed by France’s cultural sensitivities.
France wants to ensure that no questions would be asked during the proposed free-trade talks with the United States about the support that EU states provide to their cultural industries. Renewed efforts in recent days by the European Commission and other member states to persuade France that the ‘cultural exception’ would not be affected have had little effect.
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Nonetheless, diplomats have no doubt that a mandate will be agreed. They say that ministers cannot ignore the backing for talks given by EU leaders – including France’s President François Hollande – at the European Council in February, and nor would they be able to justify preventing negotiations to ease trade between the world’s two biggest economies. An EU official said he expected the final decision would maintain the tradition of agreement by unanimity.
At issue, instead, is whether defence of the ‘cultural exception’ should prevent any discussion about audiovisual services. That is the approach taken in all previous trade deals, and again is advocated by France. Others oppose any exclusions at this point, arguing that it would encourage the US to ring-fence its own sensitive issues.
The substance of the issues is less important than the perceptions around the debate, according to one diplomat, who said: “We would not lose much by losing the audiovisual chapter, and what we can give to the US is less than what is there in terms of market access already.” In his view, the European commissioner for trade, Karel De Gucht, is anxious to demonstrate to US negotiators that he can deliver even against a background of EU dissension. At the same time, Hollande is faced with the predicament that his authority would not be enhanced by making any concessions so soon after publicly rejecting the European Commission’s advice on adjustments to his economic policy.
Leading the way
The Commission hopes that a previous trade deal agreed by the US – with South Korea – could offer a route out of the impasse. That deal contained explicit safeguards for Korea’s cultural sectors.
The other principal concern for member states relates to the possible inclusion of investment protection. The US currently has bilateral investment-protection agreements with eight EU states, mainly from central and eastern Europe, dating back to shortly after their emergence from the communist system. Other countries are reluctant to accept a possible expansion of the US’s aggressively litigious corporate culture into Europe.
Recent reports have suggested that the mandate could exclude competition rules and include data privacy. The Commission denies both possibilities. “We want to develop a model for the rest of the world,” an official said about competition rules.
Trade ministers will also discuss the state of negotiations on a trade deal with Canada, which are in their final phase.
A gathering of national leaders of the G8 group of the world’s largest economies on 17-18 June is viewed as an extra incentive for ministers to agree a mandate for the US talks and for negotiators to strike a deal with Canada.