“During the last days, a lot of discussion and reflection happened and I’m quite optimistic that we will find a solid compromise for good legislation which is Trump-proof and which reflects the European interest,” Bernd Lange, the lawmaker leading the Parliament’s negotiating team, told POLITICO on Monday.
A coalition of center-left and liberal lawmakers has repeatedly come together to delay approval of the deal — first following Trump’s threats in January to annex Greenland, a Danish territory, and then after the U.S. Supreme Court in February struck down most of his tariff agenda.
Lange, a German Social Democrat who chairs the Parliament’s trade committee, has led calls to add as many guardrails to the pact as possible.
The lawmakers are at odds with the European Commission and EU capitals, led by Berlin, which want to approve the deal quickly and with minimal conditions — wary of potential retaliation from Washington.
“It’s like an unhappy marriage. Sometimes you just gotta make it work,” said one EU diplomat familiar with the talks, summing up how a majority of EU capitals see the Turnberry accord.
The disagreements and delays within the EU have tested both Washington’s patience — and the resilience of the €1.7 trillion transatlantic trade relationship, which accounts for 30 percent of global cross-border commerce.