In Written Question E‑005395/2012 this Member, amongst others, asked the Commission to clarify whether it was currently planning to take any specific action to address the impact of the Special 301 Reports issued by the Office of the United States Trade Representative on an annual basis on the harmonisation of the European internal market. During the hearing of Commissioner Karel de Gucht by Parliament’s International Trade Committee of 11 July 2012, this Member again raised the issue directly with the Commissioner, who clearly stated that he indeed disagrees with the listing of individual Member States in the reports. He further committed to raising the issue with his American counterparts during the EU‑US High-Level Working Group’s future talks(1).

(1) Video extract: http://youtu.be/PcIHS0YlNm0