“Just nobody says that”, Gabriel said Sunday during an appearance at a summer open-house event organized by the German government.
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Washington’s attitude appears to have softened after the vote to leave the European Union, with Secretary of State John Kerry indicating that preliminary talks on trade could take place although no agreement could be signed until Brexit had actually happened.
“In my opinion the negotiations with the United States have de facto failed, even though nobody is really admitting it”, Sigma Gabriel told German ZDF on Sunday.
The US and the European Union have been negotiating the TTIP for three years and both sides had sought to conclude talks in 2016 but they have differences over various issues, including agriculture.
But the deal has faced an unprecedented backlash in Germany, where hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets across the country to protest.
She has said remaining member states must listen to each other carefully and avoid rushing into policy decisions.
Many in Europe are also anxious the deal could lead to a watering down of Europe’s existing regulations on food safety and environmental protection, which are often a lot stricter than in the U.S.
The deal began to fall apart beginning in May when France first threatened to block the deal.
The US leader warned that after Brexit the United Kingdom would be at the “back of the queue” for a trade deal because the US would focus on the larger prize offered by an EU-wide agreement. European Commission says these sectors will not be included in the agreement, but leaks from the negotiations suggest the U.S.is pushing hard for access.
Mr. Gabriel indicated he doesn’t oppose free-trade deals per se. He defended a planned deal with Canada, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, which he described as “a real quantum leap”.
However both US presidential contenders have indicated they are skeptical of sweeping free-trade agreements.
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“Though the Brexit vote was shaped by concerns about the free movement of labour, rather than of goods and services, the appetite for new trade deals was already weak”. In May, public broadcaster ARD’s DeutschlandTrend survey showed that 70% of Germans opposed the deal, a 15-point increase since 2014.
