BRUSSELS, Feb. 23 — The European Parliament’s trade committee is very likely to delay a planned vote on legislative files linked to the EU-U.S. trade agreement reached in Scotland’s Turnberry last year, a committee press officer said on Monday.
Lieven Cosijn, press officer for the Parliament’s Committee on International Trade (INTA), said the committee was due to meet on Monday afternoon and Tuesday, with votes on Turnberry-related files initially expected to feature on the agenda.
“If the vote does not take place, the whole process is at least delayed,” Cosijn told Xinhua. That could push back Parliament’s timeline for taking a formal position.
According to the official, INTA, under standard procedure, first votes to set Parliament’s position before the file can move to subsequent steps, including negotiations with EU member states in the Council.
Cosijn said negotiators from the Parliament’s political groups would decide in a preparatory meeting whether to keep the votes on Tuesday’s agenda, but added the process would be “very likely to be delayed.”
He also played down suggestions that Parliament was on course to kill the deal, saying the immediate issue was whether the committee would vote as planned.
If clarifications emerge from the U.S. side, he said, the relevant report could be amended, potentially triggering fresh committee debate and another vote.
INTA chair Bernd Lange said on Sunday that U.S. tariff policy had created chaos and uncertainty and that the terms and legal basis for the Turnberry package had changed.
He said he would propose suspending legislative work by Parliament’s negotiating teams until a full legal assessment is completed and clearer U.S. commitments are secured.
The developments follow a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling limiting the use of emergency powers to impose broad tariffs, a decision widely seen as a setback to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff strategy. (Namibia Daily News/Xinhua)
