Ref. Ares(2015)4648352 - 28/10/2015
Ref. Ares(2016)6036878 - 20/10/2016
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Directorate-General for Trade
Directorate E - Neighbouring countries, USA and Canada
USA and Canada
Brussels,
USA and Canada
Report: Meeting with ACEA Tep-Ext on TTIP cars, Brussels, 20.05.2015
On 20.05.2015, DG Trade (
,
) and DG
Grow (
) debriefed ACEA Members on the last round of TTIP
negotiations on cars. The meeting lasted around 1.30h.
Commission opened the meeting with a general assessment of the process – which has
continued to increase in probability of delivering a result again during the last round. The
engagement of both sides remains at a high level. However, the size of what is going to
be the end result is still a function of the next technical discussions and more importantly
the political process to start over the summer. The industry studies on both the
equivalence and the economic importance of an agreement will have an impact on the
size of what can be achieved.
DG Grow debriefed on the four areas of discussion (equivalence, 1998 Agreement,
bilateral harmonisation, research cooperation). She provided quite some detail on
NHTSA's proposal for the three areas of bilateral harmonisation (automatic emergency
braking, adaptive driving beam, seatbelt interlock). We clarified the potential benefits of
these areas. Industry did not react negatively. On equivalence, she mentioned the third
test case on crashworthiness that DG Grow is elaborating. Industry wanted to have clarity
on the time frame. The objective is to have it ready for presentation in the next round, but
that no reaction from NHTSA would be expected.
On the 1998 Agreement, reference was made to the joint trilateral process and the joint
paper for the WP.29. The next step is now to reflect on how to proceed in Geneva with
regard to third countries. A possible submission in June is not excluded, but may be some
intermediary steps are needed. Industry enquired whether this trilateral process could
have negative repercussions on the Japan FTA negotiations. Commission clarified that
the trilateral process has only helped both bilateral process, with U.S. and with Japan,
since in Japan the basis for discussion is the 1958 Agreement.
An important part of the discussions was the question of cumulation on rules of origin in
TTIP. DG Trade provided a general outline of the issue and various parameters that
needed to be considered. The reaction of industry was polite, but tension could be sensed
in the room. Commission offered cooperation also with technical experts from industry.
Thank you for your interest.
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111