European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said in a news conference today that President Jean-Claude Juncker will not bring a trade offer to the US when he visits Washington on July 25. Schinas said “I do not wish to enter into a discussion about mandates, offers because there are no offers. This is a discussion, it is a dialogue and it is an opportunity to talk and to stay engaged in dialogue.”
This is an echo of the comments by EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom last week. She said that the visit was to “try to establish a good relations, try to see how we can de-escalate the situation, avoiding it going further and see if there is a forum where we can discuss these issues.” She added that “we don’t go there to negotiate anything.”
