Commerce Minister Michael Damianos on Thursday acclaimed the “strong and open” partnership between the European Union and the United States, as the Council of the EU approved two pieces of legislation which aim to ease trade across the Atlantic Ocean.

“We are committed to a strong and open transatlantic partnership with our historic ally, but openness must go hand in hand with safeguarding our interests. These measures achieve both, supporting stable and predictable trade flows with the US while ensuring the EU can respond swiftly and proportionately when the deal is not respected or its interests are at stake,” he said.

As such, he added, in approving the two pieces of legislation, “we are sending a strong signal that Europe is open to the world, but also clear about protecting its businesses and workers”.

The first regulation eliminates tariffs on all US industrial goods entering the European single market and provides preferential market access for a range of seafood and agricultural goods until the end of 2029.

It also empowers the European Commission to suspend those tariff preferences at the end of this year if the US continues to apply a tariff rate higher than 15 per cent on EU steel and aluminium derivatives.

In line with this, the commission will issue a report on the matter to the parliament and to the Council of the EU by December 1.

The second regulation extends the EU’s zeroing of tariffs on lobster from the US and extends that tariff-free access to processed lobster until July 31, 2030.

Both pieces of legislation had passed through the European Parliament last week, with four of Cyprus’ six MEPs – Loukas Fourlas and Michalis Hadjipantela of Disy, Geadis Geadi of Elam, and Costas Mavrides of Diko – voting in favour of the two bills, independent Fidias Panayiotou voting against it, and Akel’s Giorgos Georgiou absent.

The regulations are both based on a joint statement issued by the EU and the US last August following an agreement which was reached at a meeting of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump in Turnberry, in Scotland, a month prior.

Following European Parliament’s votes, the parliament’s international trade committee (Inta) chairman Bernd Lange said that the regulation has “become part of the EU’s defensive toolbox”.

“It not only strengthens and stabilises EU-US trade relations, but it also gives the EU the ability to respond if the United States fails to uphold its side of the bargain. Thanks to parliament’s firm stance the final text now contains a far stronger safety net,” he said.

He added, “we will continue to closely watch the implementation of this agreement”, and as such said that “if the US side breaches either the letter or the spirit of the Turnberry agreement, parliament will insist that the commission make full and timely use of every instrument provided by this regulation”.