In May 1998 Parliament gave its assent to a provisional interim agreement on trade and related issues associated with the 1997 agreement. The aim was to enable negotiations on liberalising the trade aspects of the global agreement falling within the Community' s competence to begin as soon as possible, without having to wait for ratification by the fifteen Member States to be completed.
Aftalen fra 1997 var ledsaget af en midlertidig interimsaftale om handelsmæssige aspekter, for hvilken Europa-Parlamentet afgav samstemmende udtalelse i maj 1998, og som havde til formål at sikre, at forhandlingerne om liberalisering af de handelsmæssige aspekter, som henhører under Fællesskabets kompetenceområde, der er indeholdt i den globale aftale, kunne indledes hurtigst muligt, uden at det var nødvendigt at vente på, at de 15 medlemsstater havde ratificeret den.