The European People’s Party — the largest group in the chamber — is keen to get the trade deal on the books, and negotiators hope a majority will back it.
Zeljana Zovko, the EPP lawmaker representing the center-right group in the negotiations, told POLITICO that the deal “will save our businesses and give them breathing space to continue trade with our most important trading partner.”
Failure by the Parliament to ratify the compromise would humiliate Bernd Lange, the chair of the chamber’s trade committee and the Parliament’s chief negotiator.
Lange declared himself satisfied with the result despite the concessions. “We are ensuring stability and security for European manufacturers, fully aware that we cannot, of course, always guarantee that the U.S. will abide by the agreement,” he said.
The German Social Democrat had assembled a broad coalition of lawmakers to demand that extra conditions be attached to the accord to shield the EU from Trump’s periodic attempts to coerce America’s longtime allies. But it remains to be seen whether the text can command a majority in the Parliament in light of its significant concessions.
Sabine Weyand, the outgoing chief of the Commission’s trade department, told members of her entourage at the talks that she expected to get the deal through a meeting of ambassadors from EU member countries later on Wednesday, calling the task “a walk in the park.”
Tom Schmidtgen in Berlin and Julius Brinkmann in Washington contributed reporting.
