“These leaked documents confirm what we have been saying for a long time”, said Greenpeace EU director Jorgo Riss.
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The European Commission said on 2 May that the leaked confidential documents on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), reflected negotiating positions, not any final outcome, the EU’s chief negotiator Ignacio Garcia Bercero said, dismissing some of Greenpeace’s points as “flatly wrong”.
Greenpeace says the prospect appears increasingly unlikely and pointed out gaps and rollbacks in the leaks that it says undermine European Union standards. Still, “we are going to obviously investigate this leak”, he said.
Earnest’s counterpart at the State Department, John Kirby, reaffirmed that administration officials “still believe it’s possible” to deliver a deal before the end of Obama’s presidency.
“TTIP will preserve, not undermine, our strong consumer, health, environmental standards and position the USA and the European Union to work together to push standards higher around the world”, the USTR spokesman said.
Following the latest TTIP negotiations last month, American and European negotiators said they had made progress but “substantial work” remained to agree a deal in 2016.
EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem wrote in a blog post that the bloc wouldn’t lower its level of protection regarding consumers, food safety or the environment. The reports date from early April, before a round of meetings in NY last week.
The documents show that USA corporation will be given unprecedented powers over any new public health or safety regulations that will be introduced in the future.
The EU and the USA last week concluded a 13rd round in NY, after more than two years of talks, with an aim of wrapping up the deal before United States president Barack Obama leaves office.
Edward Alden of the Council on Foreign Relations, a USA think tank, said the most striking element of the leaked documents was that it showed “the two sides are still so far apart in the negotiations, that there are such big issues that remain unresolved”.
President Barack Obama has said he “does not anticipate” being able to complete ratification of a deal by the end of this year, but is hoping to complete the agreement by the end of his term in office. On the other side of the Atlantic, weariness toward another trade deal is increasing at a time when presidential hopefuls are heavily criticising U.S. free trade deals already in place.
“Given the approach being taken by the United States today, it is the most likely option”, Fekl told the local broadcaster Europe 1. The environmental group, which has always been a vociferous opponent of the trade deal, expressed “grave concerns” over the impact of TTIP on environment and public health in the EU.
A British parliamentary report published this week showed worldwide trade deals take between four and nine years on average to negotiate.
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Now Greenpeace say the deal will put the health of the British public at risk and are calling for an urgent halt to talks.
