Negotiations are now expected to be held after the USA election in November, which could change the political landscape in Washington as protectionist rhetoric has driven the political debate between Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton.
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Hollande added that the positions of some negotiating parties had “not been respected”.
The French trade minister on Tuesday called for an end to trade negotiations between the European Union and the US, the firmest sign yet of opposition in Europe to what would be the most ambitious trade deal in decades. “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.
Current Transatlantic trade talks should be halted and a new set started, France’s trade minister said yesterday, adding his voice to German calls for an end to the negotiations.
Despite a weekend comment by German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel that the talks had “de facto failed”, the European Commission says negotiations are making steady progress and there is an outline of a future an agreement.
The EU commissioner in charge of the negotiations said talks have not broken down and the aim is still a deal by the time Obama leaves office.
But French junior trade minister Matthias Fekl said there was “no more political support in France” for the talks because U.S. negotiators were offering “nothing or just crumbs”. “The talks with the United States have de facto failed because we Europeans of course must not succumb to American demands”. “These discussions can not result in an agreement by the end of the year”.
Merkel’s conservatives, however, are standing by the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
“We need a clear, clean, definitive halt to negotiations to be able to resume on a good basis”, Fekl said on RMC radio, without elaborating on what conditions would be necessary for new talks.
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The U.S. and the European Union agreed to start the talks in 2013. However, recent developments along with the uncertainty of the November elections in the USA and the Brexit may have changed the plans. Activists who have opposed TTIP since negotiations began in 2013 say the deal would only benefit multinationals and harm consumers. Behind the scenes, top diplomats have told AFP talks may be suspended until after the USA presidential election in November as well as elections in France and Germany next year.
