By Laurence Norman 

BRUSSELS--European Union leaders will be asked to reaffirm their support for the bloc's negotiating mandate for a trade deal with the U.S., the European Commission said Monday, as talks reach a critical stage.

A spokesman for the European Commission said that the EU's executive President Jean-Claude Juncker had asked for the issue to be placed on the agenda of the June summit of EU heads of government.

"President Juncker feels that the time has come to ask heads of state and government of the European Union to have a new discussion on where we are and where we want to get with these negotiations," said the spokesman Daniel Rosario. "We have to make sure we are all rowing in the same direction."

The EU negotiates trade deals on behalf of its 28 member state governments. However, they must fix the mandate for and sign off any deal.

French President François Hollande said earlier this month that France is against the current position in trans-Atlantic trade talks because it calls into question the country's principles on agriculture, culture and the environment.

Wide-ranging negotiations for the trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP, have dragged on for three years and now face skepticism on both sides of the Atlantic. A year ahead of presidential elections in France, the Socialist leader Mr. Hollande is looking to appease many on the left in France who are deeply suspicious of a trade deal.

On Monday, Margaritis Schinas, the commission's chief spokesman, said it is not the first time Mr. Juncker has tried to ensure he has the political backing from EU leaders.

He said this was particularly important as negotiators moved on to the "crucial final stage" of talks. He said Mr. Juncker hoped to get "a strong re-endorsement of its aims."

The EU-US trade deal would leave tariffs close to zero and remove or streamline a host of regulations that hinder trade in goods, ranging from cars to chemicals.

Both sides have said they would like to conclude the deal before the end of the current U.S. administration in January 2017. But both have also said that speed won't take precedence over substance in securing a deal.

Write to Laurence Norman at laurence.norman@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 30, 2016 08:16 ET (12:16 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.