In D.C. for TTIP - Main contents

This week, I have been in the US capital of Washington D.C. for meetings and events concerning TTIP, our trade and investment talks with the United States. A welcome break from the quite grey, wintery Brussels, to be honest - we have had summer temperatures here these past few days, with blossoming cherry trees and magnolias.

But a lot of time has, as usual, been spent indoors. I met with the US Trade Representative Michael Froman today, and we had a good discussion together with our lead negotiators and teams on how to move forward in the two more negotiating rounds we have planned before summer. During the previous round, in February, we made good progress, especially in the field of regulatory cooperation - including good regulatory practices and sectors such as pharmaceuticals, cars and medical devices.

I have also met with, among many others, Richard Trumka, president of labour union federation AFL-CIO. We discussed the labour provisions that we wish to see in TTIP. I also spoke at the Peterson Institute yesterday, about EU trade policy and the need for close EU-US trade relations. My speech is available online.

As regards TTIP, I now want to build on the recent progress made to make as much headway as possible towards concluding negotiations by the end of this year.

More about my US visit here.