Juncker is expected to use his State of the European Union speech September 13 to call for a quick start of talks with Canberra and Wellington. Negotiating proposals based on the new model will then follow within “days,” according to a trade diplomat and several lawmakers in the European Parliament familiar with the dossier. Member countries would have to approve Juncker’s proposals.
The new model involves splitting deals into two parts. The vast majority of chapters in trade accords fall under the exclusive competence of the EU, meaning those sections can be ratified by the European Parliament and EU governments as represented at the Council. [...]
Reducing the say of national parliaments is sensitive, however. Germany — the heartland of last year’s protests against new trade deals — asked the Commission not to push too far ahead with this tactic until the country’s federal elections on September 24, several trade diplomats in Brussels said. [...]
The new approach follows a European Court of Justice ruling in May, which said that all parts of the EU’s trade deal with Singapore except non-direct foreign investment and investment dispute mechanisms fall under exclusive EU competence. The ruling is considered relevant to other EU trade deals because of their similarity to the Singapore agreement.
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