GERMANY’S Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel says the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) free trade deal being negotiated between the United States and the European Commission has failed “but nobody is really admitting it”.
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The future of the proposed free trade deal between the United States and European Union was dealt a further blow on Tuesday when France’s foreign trade minister said his country wanted an end to the negotiations.
Meanwhile, French trade minister Matthias Fekl said in a radio interview earlier today that the talks on TTIP should be scrapped and started anew.
“The Americans give nothing or just crumbs…”
Despite a weekend comment by German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel that the talks had “de facto failed”, the European Commission says negotiations are making steady progress and there is an outline of a future an agreement.
Malmstrom added that it made no sense to suspend talks in September because the two sides could still make advances in regulatory cooperation, agreeing standards that are important to industries such as the auto sector, and that could be picked up by Obama’s successor even if a deal was not sealed this year.
“We mustn’t submit to the American proposals”, said Gabriel, who also heads Germany’s center-left Social Democratic Party.
While backers of the corporate-friendly deal, including U.S. President Barack Obama, have vowed to push ahead, its critics see the wave of public declarations by top ministers as proof their campaigning against the deal is paying off.
Meanwhile, EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom tweeted that she was having a video conference today with U.S. trade representative Michael Froman to discuss TTIP.
Hollande was talking about a massive trade deal that U.S. and European Union diplomats have been negotiating for more than three years. There’s resistance on both continents, and the talks are complicated by Britain’s planned exit from the 28-nation European Union and upcoming presidential elections in the US and France.
A Downing Street spokesman said it is “obviously in Europe’s and America’s benefit to get an global trade deal organised”.
On Monday the European Commission’s spokesman Margaritis Schinas told a news conference that talks are at a “crucial stage”, but there is an outline of the agreement and “the ball is rolling”. Behind the scenes, top diplomats have told AFP talks may be suspended until after the U.S. presidential election in November as well as elections in France and Germany next year.
However Gabriel said the talks had little hope of reaching fruition either before or after the U.S. election.
Britain’s June vote to leave the European Union has further clouded the picture, though Schinas insisted Brussels was still negotiating on behalf of all 28 members of the bloc, including London.
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Taoiseach Enda Kenny has been a vocal supporter of TTIP during his time leading the country.
