Paris threatened to stall further negotiations as long ago as April, but there are national elections due in both France and Germany in 2017, and before the summer, experts were saying that this year – ahead of the USA presidential election – may be the best opportunity to strike a deal.
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Critics say one of the main concerns with TTIP is that it could allow multinational corporations to effectively “sue” governments for taking actions that might damage their businesses.
Fekl later explained in a radio interview that “there is no political support from France” for the talks.
“With the agreement, we’ve created planning security for companies”, said Gabriel, the vice chancellor and leader of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD).
TTIP has also not been helped by the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom, whose government has hitherto been one of the most vocal supporters of the plan.
Public opposition to TTIP has been strong in both the European Union and the US. “The U.S. has balked at accepting minimum European Union standards in the talks and unless that stance changes, I can’t see that it’s possible to seal the accord”, he said.
Ahead of elections in France and Germany next year, politicians are keenly aware that TTIP is not a vote victor. “It would be a big boost for economies, jobs, trade”.
Italy’s trade and industry minister meanwhile said it was essential for Italian exporters that the negotiations bore fruit.
So far, Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has remained firm in her public support of the proposed deal, describing its implementation last month as “absolutely in Europe’s interest”.
Schinas insisted that while the Commission, the EU’s executive arm which conducts all bloc trade negotiations, wanted a deal, it would not come at any cost.
German economy minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Sunday that TTIP was “finished”, as the two parties had failed to agree on a single point in the 27 negotiation chapters.
U.S. elections in November could be a starting point for a new attempt, he said.
Following Gabriel’s comments over the weekend, a statement from the office of U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman on Monday downplayed the potential breakdown of talks by telling Der Spiegel, “Negotiations are in fact making steady progress”.
“There is so much pressure on both sides of the Atlantic”, he told RT, “The negotiating teams… are trying to make it look like they are meeting the will of the people and also doing what the deal was all about – handing big chunks of our democracy to the rule of big business”.
French President Francois Hollande complains a deal would allow big United States corporations easier access to farming and film markets in Europe, while TTIP opponents in Germany fear environmental standards and job would suffer once the ink is dry on a treaty.
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Some 70 percent of Germans believe the treaty would bring mostly disadvantages, polls show.
