The Socialists and Democrats today welcomed the significant shift in EU trade policy from commissioner-designate Malmström indicating that she is willing to remove the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism from the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
Ahead of her parliamentary hearing on Monday – where she will be cross-examined by MEPs on her priorities for EU trade policy – the commissioner-designate today confirmed she sees no need for the ISDS in the EU-US trade agreement.
S&D spokesperson on international trade, David Martin MEP commented:
"This is extremely welcome news and a major victory for the S&D Group which has led Europe-wide calls for this mechanism to be scrapped.
"We have been clear and we have been insistent: there is no place for the ISDS in TTIP. I'm glad the commissioner-designate agrees."
Bernd Lange, S&D MEP and chair of the international trade committee added:
“This is an important signal that the demands made by the S&D Group in the European Parliament are taken seriously by the new Commission. Considering the recent debates on ISDS in our plenary and committee sessions, it is clearly the right move if we want to make TTIP happen.”
MEPs will have the opportunity to further question Ms Malmström at her parliamentary hearing on Monday afternoon.
