Socialist and Democrats today welcomed the significant shift in EU trade policy indicated by Commissioner-designate Malmström that she is willing to remove investor- state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism from the proposed EU-US Trade Agreement.
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 ISDS in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
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 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.
