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EU trade chief says many countries show support for TTIP

“He’ll be back in September, and all in pursuit of the goal the president has laid out to try and complete these negotiations before the end of the year”, Earnest said.

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The European Commission, which is conducting the TTIP negotiations on EU members’ behalf, on Monday responded to Gabriel’s comments by saying the talks are making progress and are entering a crucial stage.

France’s trade minister said on Tuesday that Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations should not continue.

French president François Hollande has once again urged the United Kingdom to get on with the job of divorcing itself from the European Union, saying France wants everything sorted by 2019.

The White House also disputed Gabriel’s contention, saying it was still aiming to reach a deal by the end of the year.

O’Sullivan, formerly the most senior civil servant in the European Commission, said many in the United States were “deeply concerned” about what Brexit meant for transatlantic co-operation in areas such as trade, security and intelligence-sharing.

“They have been hard, of course, we knew from the beginning, but they have not failed”, she said.

Germany’s economy minister said Sunday that negotiations have effectively collapsed, but a us trade official said they’re making steady progress.

Germany said it has resolved a dispute with the European Union so that German firms that generate power for their own consumption can remain exempt from a green energy surcharge, Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Tuesday.

Three years of talks on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership have failed to resolve multiple differences, including over food and environmental safety.

German economic circles have called the Federal Government to enhance its support for the European Commission during the talks on the TTIP between the EU and the United States. The setbacks have raised serious doubts that it will be achieved by the end of the year as hoped.

She said the aim was still to conclude a deal under the Obama presidency, adding: “And if that is not possible it makes sense to make as much progress as possible”.

Speaking in Brussels yesterday, Schinas said that “although trade talks take time, the ball is rolling right now”.

Hollande’s trade chief, Matthias Fekl, accused the American side of offering just “crumbs”.

“There should be an absolute clear end so that we can restart them on good basis”, he said on RMC Radio, adding he would suggest that course to fellow ministers.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel Thursday stressed her continued support for an EU-U.S. trade agreement being negotiated but recently declared dead by her deputy and by a French minister.

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“We will have to see where the weaknesses of CETA are”.

EU rebuffs German minister Gabriel over TTIP comments