EU-US trade deal will benefit SMEs, says Brussels

Small and medium-sized firms will be the big winners of an EU-US trade deal, according to a report published by the European Commission yesterday.

As the ninth round of negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) kicked off in New York, the European Commission published an in-depth survey of SME attitudes to TTIP, the latest attempt by the EU to highlight the benefits of a deal facing significant public opposition in some member states. Almost 900 companies from 25 member states were surveyed.

The report found trade with the US is already an important source of business, with SMEs responsible for 28 per cent of direct exports to the US from Europe, equating to approximately €77 billion. The value of exports sold by Irish SMEs to the US in 2012 was €7.3 billion, the study found.

Launching the report in Brussels, EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström said the EU was committed to securing an agreement that was “ambitious, comprehensive and will maintain our highest levels of standards”.

The report had also highlighted the significant challenges faced by SMEs in accessing the US market, with respondents citing regulation as one of the key barriers. “The regulatory part of TTIP is very much a small business agenda. Big companies can deal with that. They have whole departments to deal with this, but small family companies do not have the resource to do these double testing, double inspections, and that is why it’s so important to unlock the economic benefits of these deals for them.”

This week’s negotiations in New York are expected to focus on regulation. While supporters of TTIP believe streamlining of regulatory standards between the US and the EU will significantly reduce red tape and costs, anti-TTIP campaigners have warned of a fall in consumer standards.

The Swedish commissioner also confirmed she would come forward with a revised proposal for an Investor-State Dispute Settlement mechanism in the coming weeks. The inclusion of an ISDS mechanism – a clause that allows investors to sue governments in certain instances – has emerged as one of the most controversial aspects of the EU-US trade deal.

Anti-TTIP protests took place across Europe this weekend, including in Berlin, Munich and Brussels, as public opposition continued.