The comments put the EU’s two biggest economies at odds with both the official line from the European Commission, the bloc’s executive, and the U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman.
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President Francois Hollande told ambassadors on Tuesday that talks were “bogged down” and “unbalanced” and it was an illusion to imagine that a deal could be sealed during Obama’s term. He added that according to the course of the talks, the TTIP would be unbalanced and it would bring many more benefits to the United States, while the European Union would only receive breadcrumbs.
Hollande, in a speech to France’s diplomatic corps, chose his words more carefully saying it would be an “illusion” to say a deal was close.
“The current discussions on the treaty between Europe and the United States will not lead to an agreement by the end of the year”, he said.
“The Americans give nothing or just crumbs. that is not how negotiations are done between allies”, French Trade Minister Matthias Fekl said on Tuesday as he announced that the formal petition to stop talks will be submitted before the European Commission. “It’s going to require the resolution of some pretty thorny negotiations, but the president and his team are committed to doing that”, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters in Washington. But he too said it would be hard to reach a deal before Obama left office at the end of the year.
German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Sunday that TTIP negotiations had effectively failed after Europe refused to accept some USA demands.
Three years of talks on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership have failed to resolve multiple differences, including over food and environmental safety. “The talks with the U.S. have de facto failed because we Europeans of course must not succumb to American demands”.
Fekl said he would request a halt to TTIP talks at next month’s meeting of European Union trade ministers in Bratislava.
However, the commission said Monday that while the talks “are now indeed entering a crucial stage”, it still wanted to complete a deal by late in the year.
Behind the scenes, top diplomats have told AFP talks may be suspended until after the USA presidential election in November and could even be put on hold until after elections in France and Germany next year.
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France seeks halt to talks on EU-US trade deal was posted in Business of TheNews International – https://www.thenews.com.pk on August 31, 2016 and was last updated on August 31, 2016.
