On 8 July at a plenary session in Strasbourg, the European Parliament finally approved a non-binding report on the TTIP negotiations. Even though the EP does not have a formal role during TTIP talks, it will only need to approve the treaty at the end, the report is a very important indication of the eventual future vote. The report got stuck in the Parliament recently due to the controversial ISDS issue. The once postponed vote on the report was now successful, however. The two largest political groups, the conservatives and the socialists, agreed on a compromise wording of the ISDS formulation, which invites the Commission to push for a replacement of current ISDS procedures with a new system. This formulation clearly rejects the “old-school” ISDS arbitration, which the Commission would not agree to in any case, while leaving the door open for both possible outcomes – new permanent ISDS court (the EC´s preferred outcome) or no ISDS mechanism at all (hardliners´ position). The next round of TTIP talks will take place on 13-17 July in Brussels.

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