6 TTIP scrutiny
53. The EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment
Partnership (better known as TTIP) has been the subject of considerable
interest in Parliament and among the wider public and is likely
to be the subject of scrutiny by our successor Committee.
54. We held two oral evidence sessions with the responsible
Minister, Lord Livingston, in June 201435F[36]
and February 2015.36F[37]
Given the potential scale of the agreement and its impact on many
areas of Government policy we have been pleased to note the engagement
of other Select Committees in TTIP scrutiny—notably the
Business, Innovation and Skills Committee, the Environmental Audit
Committee37F[38]
and the Health Committee.
55. One outstanding issue arising from TTIP is the
scrutiny process from now until the conclusion of the agreement,
and potentially beyond that during the ratification of any Agreement
by individual Member States.
56. Much criticism of the TTIP process in 2014 centred
on the lack of transparency and poor availability of information,
with—for example—the negotiating mandate only being
made publicly available in October 2014, after a leaked version
being available online for over a year. The new Commission has
taken a series of steps to address this but its efforts regarding
parliamentary scrutiny have, so far, centred on MEPs not national
parliamentarians.
57. Lord Livingston told us in February that he was
seeking to ensure that the increased access to documents recently
granted to MEPs was extended to MPs. He added that "we would
like to see further documents made available to the Chair of the
Scrutiny Committee"38F[39]
and proposed discussions "to increase the ability of this
Committee to have access raised to a level of things similar to
those that will go to the top officials and so on."
39F[40]
58. We asked the Minister to set this out in more
detail in correspondence, given that the essence of the scrutiny
process is that it is based on public documents, and also to ensure
that any special arrangements take account of the involvement
of other Select Committees. We received the Minister's reply as
we finalised our Report, which stated:
"The new EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström
has, with UK support, committed to greater transparency and has
now published the negotiating mandate, a number of position papers
with accompanying explanatory material, and EU textual proposals
in nine of expected twenty-four chapters of the agreement. This
material is available for everyone to consider at:
http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=1230.The
Commission plans to make public further material as negotiations
progress.
"Alongside this extensive public material,
the Commission is now making additional restricted material available
to MEPs, such as draft textual proposals. We would like to see
equivalent access extended for UK parliamentarians and will explore
the scope and methods by which this information can be shared
while still preserving the confidentiality of sensitive documents.
"Further steps we are taking to improve
transparency with the public are:
· the
creation of a new Ministerial Advisory Board on Trade. This Board
will include a full range of interested parties-representatives
of business, trades unions, civil society groups and consumers.
· publication
of a series of UK explanatory notes on key aspects of the negotiations
and ongoing publication of information about progress in the negotiations."
59. Following the session the Minister also provided
us with additional updates on the eighth negotiating round, TTIP
and CETA Ratification and UK Relationship with the EU, ISDS and
Increased Transparency, which we have published on our website.
60. We discussed with Lord Livingston what information
would be made available during the weeks (or months) in the new
Parliament before a new Scrutiny Committee meets. He replied that
the Government "will continue to write as if the Committee
exists, so that there is not a gap in documentation—the
documents continue to come to the Committee, and they have it
during that period."40F[41]
We stressed to the Minister that there is no mechanism to publish
incoming documents within this period, so there would be a need
for the Government to make proper alternative arrangements to
inform all Members of the House.
61. We recommend that our successor Committee
hold a session with the relevant Minister early in the new Parliament
to take forward our scrutiny of TTIP. We agree that MPs and Peers
should have equivalent access to documents as MEPs (as should
Parliamentarians of other EU Member States) and urge the Government
to secure this important commitment.
62. We ask the Government to inform all Members
of the House about the progress of negotiations during the period
before Select Committees are appointed, when there is no mechanism
for our Committee secretariat to publish incoming correspondence.
36 Oral evidence taken on 11 June 2014, HC 292 Back
37
Oral evidence taken on 26 February 2015, HC 1084 Back
38
Ninth Report of the Committee, Environmental risks of the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership,
HC 857 Back
39
Oral evidence taken on 26 February 2015, HC 1084, Q 52 Back
40
Oral evidence taken on 26 February 2015, HC 1084, Q 52 Back
41
Oral evidence taken on 26 February 2015, HC 1084, Q 55 Back
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