The European Council gave the Commission the mandate to begin the negotiations last Friday.
The trust which member countries have shown in the European Commission by approving a broad mandate is an acknowledgement of the TTIP's value and of the political will to set up the partnership. We believe the TTIP is an opportunity to set up an integrated transatlantic market and achieve stable economic growth as well as create jobs, said the joint statement.
The US and the EU are the strongest investment and trade partners which generate nearly 50 per cent of the global GDP and 30 per cent of the global trade, and the TTIP is an opportunity to further strengthen this cooperation, the statement added.
The European Commission predicts that the TTIP could generate EUR 119 billion annually for the EU and EUR 95 billion for the US as well as create half a million jobs.
The TTIP would provide big companies, and more than ever small and medium enterprises, with opportunities on a market of more than 800 million people, and the Croatian economy would have more possibilities to compete in the US.
AmCham, HGK and HUP are part of the Business Alliance for Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, which supports the negotiation of an ambitious and comprehensive agreement, said the statement signed by AmCham president Ivan Vidakovic, HGK president Nadan Vidosevic and HUP president Ivica Mudrinic.