Speaking on Sunday, Sigmar Gabriel, who is also Germany’s economy minister, said: “In my opinion the negotiations with the United States have de facto failed, even though nobody is really admitting it”.
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The U.S. 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.
France’s Prime Minister Manuel Valls has said it would be “impossible” for the two sides to conclude negotiations on a trade deal by the end of 2016. On Sunday another round of the talks was not successful, the sides have too many differences over various issues, main of them is an agriculture.
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An earlier survey found that public support for the agreement dropped sharply in both Germany and the United States in recent years. Critics claim that TTIP is unsafe as it could place the interest of global corporations above those of the nations they operate in, and undermine European standards for labor and environmental protections. Campaigners have called for nationwide protests against the talks on September 17 – about year before Germany’s next general election.
