BRUSSELS, 8th May, 2026 (WAM) -- The European Parliament's chief negotiator on the trade agreement with the United States, German MEP Bernd Lange, announced that the final round of negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union will be held on 19th May in Strasbourg, stressing his rejection of pressure from the European People's Party to accelerate approval of the agreement before completing the required legal and political guarantees.

Lange, who chairs the European Parliament's Committee on International Trade, said the negotiations had made significant progress in recent days, but still faced key points of disagreement, most notably the European Parliament's demand to include a clause allowing the agreement to be automatically frozen or suspended if the United States breaches its trade commitments in the future.

The European official noted that recent judicial developments in the United States had strengthened the European Parliament's position after the US Court of International Trade issued a ruling suspending some tariffs imposed by the administration of US President Donald Trump on foreign imports.

Lange said the ruling highlighted the continuing legal uncertainty surrounding US trade policy, requiring the European Union to maintain clear safeguard mechanisms within the agreement.

Negotiations stalled this week after both sides failed to reach a settlement on a European proposal calling for the removal of tariffs on industrial and agricultural goods in exchange for the European Union accepting a fixed US tariff of 15 percent on most European exports to the American market.

Meanwhile, Croatian MEP eljana Zovko, representing the European People's Party in the negotiations, criticised the continued delays, saying prolonged negotiations could push Europe towards a direct trade confrontation with the United States.

Trump reportedly informed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during a telephone call on Thursday that the deadline for implementing the trade agreement would be 4th July, warning of higher tariffs on the European Union if no final agreement is reached before that date.

Should a political understanding be reached by the end of May, the European Parliament is expected to vote on the agreement during its plenary session scheduled from 15th to 18th June, the last session before the US deadline expires.