In Europe, politicians in the bloc’s biggest economic powers, France and Germany, find themselves under fire for supporting negotiations with the U.S. Marine Le Pen, the head of France’s right-wing National Front party, has repeatedly attacked President Franç ois Hollande for backing the talks. Several French and German ministers echoed the statement, citing USA unwillingness to compromise.
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French President Francois Hollande, for example, indicated earlier this year that France would “never accept questioning essential principles for our agriculture, our culture”.
“These discussions can not result in an agreement by the end of the year”.
French and German government ministers have accused Obama’s country of causing problems over the controversial Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
On the U.S side, further difficulties arise on horizon as Donald Trump seems firmly opposed to worldwide trade deals and Hillary Clinton has not shown much enthusiasm on the TTIP either.
In a tweet, Fekl said “France demands the cessation of negotiations #TAFTA #TTIP”. From Washington’s perspective, he says the TTIP and the TPP are both meant to bolster America’s role as the leading force for setting global trade rules.
The EU Commission and USA negotiators began work on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) in 2013.
Schinas said that Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, has asserted that security, health, social, and data protection standards will not be sacrificed for the sake of trade.
Commenting separately on Gabriel’s remarks, Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said he believed arriving at a deal would benefit both the European Union and the United States. “Nothing is moving forward”.
“The negotiations with the United States have de facto failed although nobody really admits to it”, Gabriel said. John Hilary, executive director of campaign group War on Want, has described the pact as “an assault on European and U.S. societies by trans-national corporations”. Opponents of the deal have been staging protests in a number of European cities.
“Although trade talks take time, the ball is rolling right now and the Commission is making steady progress in the ongoing TTIP negotiations”, European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas told a news conference.
There is “no more political support” in France for EU-US trade pact, foreign trade secretary says.
Talks aimed at setting up a U.S. Backers say it will help small businesses opening up markets and making customs processes easier, while trade tariffs on products would be reduced.
Critics claim that TTIP is unsafe as it could place the interest of global corporations above those of the nations they operate in, and undermine European standards for labor and environmental protections.
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But U.S. opposition isn’t the biggest hurdle for negotiators to tackle, according to Gabriel. “And it is clear that for the moment we do not have enough – we can’t conclude before the end of the year”, the Swede said.
