US and EU open talks on transatlantic trade pact Karel De Gucht, EU trade commissioner US and European officials have taken the first steps in high-stakes negotiations to craft a transatlantic trade agreement, with the initial round of talks focusing on cutting barriers to trade and harmonising regulations across a swath of economic activity. The discussions, which started in Washington on Monday, are being hailed by many business groups for having great potential to stoke growth across the US and European economies. But the EU-US talks are seen sceptically by some consumer advocates who worry that they could end up undermining regulatory standards in areas such as agriculture and food safety, data privacy, financial products and the environment. At the start of the negotiations, top EU and US officials were optimistic about the prospects for an agreement by the end of next year - an ambitious timeline given the many sticking points that have yet to be tackled by the negotiators. Mike Froman, the US trade representative, said he was confident that goal could be achieved. We go into this exercise with eyes wide open. We know there will be challenges. But we also know that there is strong political will at the highest levels on both sides of the Atlantic determined to stay focused and get this done on one tank of gas," Mr Froman said. At a press conference in Geneva, Karel de Gucht, the EU trade commissioner, said he was convinced a deal would help extricate Europe from its "economic crisis." We will work hard to get a result. We will of course meet a lot of problems and stumbling stones, but if we reach an agreement, it would be a historic one," Mr de Gucht said. The US and EU have been eyeing the potential for a sweeping transatlantic trade deal for years, but it was only in November 2011 that they seriously began to explore its feasibility. After a high-level working group comprising EU and US officials made its recommendations in favour of a deal in January, the talks were finally set in motion. According to EU officials, the first round of negotiations will cover "market access for goods, services, investment, public procurement, regulatory issues and non-tariff barriers in areas such as customs, intellectual property, energy and raw materials, and the environment." This broad agenda was laid out with the expectation that negotiators would first try to tackle areas of greater common ground before narrowing their focus to the big sticking points later in the talks. Among the sources of greatest friction are harmonisation of standards for the export of certain US agricultural products, such as genetically modified crops, beef containing hormones, and pork fed with an additive known as ractopamine. But in the wake of revelations of sweeping surveillance programmes by the US National Security Agency, US demands for a more lenient European regime for data protection are also expected to be a major stumbling block. We will of course meet a lot of problems and stumbling stones, but if we reach an agreement, it would be a historic one Karel De Gucht More open access to US procurement, especially at state level, is expected to be a big issue, as is the establishment of a framework for harmonising financial regulation, which the Obama administration has so far resisted. Despite the challenges, US business leaders welcomed the prospects of an agreement and encouraged the negotiators to press ahead with the deepest possible deal. "This is a historic and exciting opportunity and we applaud the US and EU governments for working together to launch these negotiations," said Doug Oberhelman, chief executive of Caterpillar Inc and chair of the International Engagement Committee at the Business Roundtable, a lobby group for corporate America. We urge US and EU leaders to move forward as quickly as possible to negotiate a comprehensive agreement that eliminates trade and investment barriers and promotes regulatory co-operation. However, a coalition of European and US consumer groups doubted that "an agreement focused on regulatory "harmonisation" will serve consumer interests, workers" rights, the environment, and other areas of public interest." Rather, it could "lead to lower standards and regulatory ceilings instead of floors," they wrote in a letter to Barack Obama, US president, José Manuel Barroso, European Commission president, and Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council. "We will be monitoring the negotiations closely and will defend our rights against behind-closed-door decision-making at the service of corporate interests," they said. Dan Mullaney is the chief negotiator for the US in the talks and Ignacio Garcia-Bercero is the top EU negotiator.