US and EU flags. Photograph courtesy of openDemocracy
Prime Minister David Cameron has announced plans for a bilateral trade deal worth hundreds of billions of pounds between the US and the EU aimed at boosting exports and improving growth.
US President Barack Obama was confident of reaching an agreement, and told reporters that negotiations would begin in Washington in July, with an aim of concluding the deal in the next 18 months.
The talks were announced ahead of the G8 summit in Northern Ireland, with Cameron claiming that the deal could be worth £100 billion to the EU economy, £80 billion to the US economy, and a further £85 billion to other economies around the globe. He also said that the deal could create two million jobs and reduce prices for goods in shops.
Speaking in support of the deal, president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy said that the economies of the EU and US as “the backbone of the world economy” and opening them up to further business opportunities was simply “common sense”.
The main threat to the talks going ahead had been a French veto, but on Friday EU ministers agreed to exclude the film and television industries from the talks on the demand of the French.