BRUSSELS: The European Parliament moved on Tuesday to restart work on legislation tied to the EU-US trade framework agreed in Turnberry, Scotland, setting up a committee vote this week after months of delay. The measures would implement parts of the deal by lowering EU duties on U.S. industrial goods, widening access for selected U.S. farm and seafood products and extending zero tariffs on U.S. lobster. The decision marks the clearest step yet toward reviving the parliamentary process after two suspensions earlier this year.
The legislation covers the EU side of the 2025 framework agreement, under which Brussels said it intended to eliminate tariffs on all U.S. industrial goods and expand access for a range of American products including dairy, tree nuts, fruits, vegetables, soybean oil, pork and bison. The joint statement also provided for continuation of the lobster arrangement first agreed in 2020. In return, the United States committed to apply the higher of its Most Favoured Nation tariff or 15% on EU goods, with only MFN duties for certain sectors including aircraft and generic pharmaceuticals.
European Lawmakers broke the latest deadlock after adding a “sunrise clause” that would make the EU’s tariff cuts conditional on Washington carrying out its side of the agreement. That amendment was added after repeated concerns in Parliament that U.S. actions were no longer aligned with the terms endorsed in Turnberry. The revised text allowed members of the Parliament’s trade committee to put the files back on the agenda for a vote on Thursday, March 19, reopening a ratification track that had been stalled since January.
Conditional safeguard added
Parliamentary work had been halted twice in 2026. In January, members froze the process amid wider transatlantic tensions. In February, lawmakers again put the two files on hold after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling against the use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, raised fresh questions over how Washington would implement tariff measures. Parliament said a fallback based on Section 122 would push the applied rate on EU imports above the 15% ceiling laid out in the framework agreement.
The latest committee vote does not complete the legislative process. The two proposals still need to move through the European Parliament’s formal procedures and then be reconciled with the position of EU governments before they can take effect. Parliament’s trade committee has been handling two separate proposals linked to the tariff package, and its reports are intended to feed into the bloc’s first reading position. EU officials have said the renewed vote clears an important procedural obstacle, but does not amount to final approval of the trade package.
Next steps in Parliament
The trade package has remained politically sensitive because it requires the EU to dismantle most import duties covered by the deal while the United States retains a broad 15% tariff structure for many goods. Parliament has sought legal and procedural safeguards rather than reopening the framework itself. The U.S. side of the agreement also includes provisions on automobiles and some products subject to Section 232 actions, with Washington committing to keep combined rates at or below 15% in specified cases once the EU introduces its legislation.
Tuesday’s move keeps alive an agreement designed to stabilize one of the world’s largest trade relationships, even as lawmakers insist that implementation must track the exact terms set out by both sides in 2025. For now, the immediate test is the March 19 committee vote in Brussels, followed by negotiations between Parliament and member states on a common text. Final passage is not expected before April at the earliest. – By Content Syndication Services.