The panellists consisted of Mr Pavel Poc, member the EU Parliament, Mr Martin Pýcha, President of the Agricultural Trade Unions, Mr Jiří Lehejček, Member of the Czech Technological Platform of Ecological Agriculture, Ms Šárka Bittenglová, Member of the Czech Consumer Union, Dr. Helena Svatošová, Attorney, and Ms Jaroslava Beneš-Špalokvá, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Czech Republic.
The very interesting and animated panel discussion addressed the controversial issue of the TTIP and its eventual impact, on agriculture in the EU. Voicing the views of agriculture professionals, consumers and ecologists, the panellists agreed that the TTIP could be relevant for both agriculturists and consumers and could deepen the ties and cooperation between the EU agricultural and food industry and the US agricultural and food industry. However, the panellists found that the TTIP could also have negative impact on food safety, particularly without guaranteed food products labelling, including the indication of GMO in food products. They also pointed out that the TTIP could negatively impact the GDP of the EU members, and warned that the TTIP would eventually only benefit multinational food companies, leaving a small segment of the food market for the European SMAFE (small and medium agricultural and food enterprises). The panel discussion addressed the various legal aspects of the TTIP. At the conclusion of discussion the panellists agreed that TTIP has still many points of controversy and will most probably not be signed by the EU in the near future. Many aspects of the proposed TTIP must be further discussed by the members of the EU Parliament Agricultural Commission and the US Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce.