BusinessEurope calls for balance and progress in transparency of TTIP negotiations

On October 31st 2014, BusinessEurope replied to the public consultation launched by the European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, in relation to the transparency of the TTIP negotiations. BusinessEurope believes the European Union should strike the right balance between transparency and the need to protect its strategic interests and represent Europe successfully in sensitive negotiations. While commending recent efforts to increase transparency, further progress could be made to dispel misperceptions of the TTIP agreement, allowing a fact-based public debate and making the deal more accessible and relatable to the people. We suggest early-on availability of information to help SMEs adapt to the changing market conditions, measures to prevent arbitrary decisions on confidentiality of documents, balanced publication of non-confidential EU and US documents, increased access to confidential documents by means of modern technology.