Civil groups, professional orgs mixed on planned EU-US free trade – official

Budapest, February 19 (MTI) – Some Hungarian civil and professional organisations were optimistic about the planned free trade agreement (TTIP) between the EU and the United States while others expressed concerns, a foreign ministry official said on Thursday.

So far the foreign ministry has held consultations with representatives of 37 civil groups and professional organisations, but several other groups have indicated interest in participating, foreign ministry state secretary Istvan Mikola told a press conference. “The government is open to that,” said Mikola, who is in charge of international cooperation.

Dialogue with the profession is important since Hungary must represent its national interests within the EU during negotiations with the United States,” Mikola said.

He said professional preliminary consultations on the agreement had lacked transparency but the United States had now heeded calls to show greater openness.

A key question is whether any disputes would end up in an arbitration court or would be settled in a national court, he said. Hungary supports the latter, Mikola added.

Another important question is the issue of banning GMOs, he said, noting that Hungary’s constitution has declared Hungary a GMO-free state.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters