By Philip Blenkinsop
BRUSSELS, March 17 (Reuters) - EU lawmakers will vote on Thursday on legislation to enact parts of the EU‑U.S. trade deal after twice suspending their work because they did not believe the United States was sticking to its side of the agreement.
The European Parliament has been debating proposals to remove EU import duties on U.S. industrial goods and improve access for U.S. agricultural produce, a key part of the deal struck in Scotland last July, as well as to continue zero duties for U.S. lobsters,
initially agreed with Trump in 2020.
The proposals require approval by the parliament and EU governments.
A small group of lawmakers decided on Tuesday to proceed to a vote by the parliament's trade committee on Thursday, a necessary step towards approval of the deal, EU lawmakers and officials said.
Many lawmakers have said the trade deal is lopsided, with the EU required to cut most import duties while the U.S. sticks to a broad rate of 15%. However, they had previously appeared willing to accept it, albeit with conditions, such as an 18-month sunset clause and measures to respond to possible surges in U.S. imports.
"SATISFACTORY TEXT"
Now the lawmakers have added a further amendment to introduce a "sunrise clause" to make EU import duty reductions conditional on Washington fulfilling its side of the bargain.
EU officials said this had helped break the deadlock.
Swedish Liberals lawmaker Karin Karlsbro, who attended Tuesday's meeting, said the parliament had taken time to produce a satisfactory text without giving in to pressure to rush into a vote.
”We hope that the U.S. will continue to show willingness to stick to the deal. We will not accept higher tariffs than agreed," she said.
After the vote, representatives of the European Parliament and of EU governments will still have to negotiate a common text, meaning the legislation will not be passed until at least April.
The trade committee suspended a vote in January in protest at Trump's demands to acquire Greenland and his subsequent threats to impose tariffs on European allies who opposed him.
A vote in February was also paused after Washington imposed a blanket 10% import surcharge, which has increased the overall charge due on some EU exports to the United States.
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; additional reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout; editing by Hugh Lawson and Andrei Khalip)
