In the end, MEPs were not the first to blink. In the early hours of Wednesday morning (20 May), MEPs and ministers agreed on a final EU position on the trade agreement signed by US president Donald Trump and EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen last summer – which saw ministers agree to clauses that will allow the EU to suspend the pact if Trump imposes new or higher tariffs.
The agreement is based on a US commitment to a maximum tariff ceiling of 15 percent for most EU exports, including cars and car parts, while the EU eliminate duties on US imports.
“We got what we need,” German social democrat MEP Bernd Lange, who led the parliament’s negotiating team in the trilogue talks with ministers and the EU Commission, told reporters during a press conference in Strasbourg on Wednesday (20 May).
In an interview with EUobserver ahead of the trilogue, Lange said that the final deal must provide “sufficient safety nets for European producers and safeguards jobs across Europe. In addition, the legislation must also be legally robust and able to withstand judicial scrutiny.”
EU officials have also tacked on a three-year sunset clause that will suspend the agreement in July 2029 — six months after Trump is due to leave office at the end of his second term.
