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Thousands protest in Berlin against EU-US trade deal

Organizers claimed that a quarter of a million people came to the event, though Berlin police said that the figure was probably around 100,000.

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Those in favour of The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership argue that it will improve GDP, bringing tens of billions of dollars in extra profits.

A rally against plans for a free-trade deal between the United States and the European Union (EU) was attended by thousands of protesters over the weekend.

At least 150,000 people marched in Berlin on Saturday in protest against a planned free trade deal between Europe and the United States that they say is anti-democratic and will lower food safety, labour and environmental standards.

Protesters including civil rights groups, environmentalists, labor union members and opponent political parties marched in streets of downtown Berlin, banging drums, clutching flags and posters and chanting slogans.

But opposition to the TTIP has risen over the past year in Germany, with critics fearing the pact will hand too much power to big multinationals at the expense of consumers and workers.

Germany’s government has pushed the deal, saying it will boost the global economy and give smaller and mid-sized companies a better chance at competing on the world market while reducing bureaucracy.

In a full-page letter published on Saturday in several German newspapers, German Minister of Economic Affairs and Energy Sigmar Gabriel warned against “scaremongering”. “This must be our aim”, Mr Gabriel wrote.

Businesses hope the trade deal will deliver over $100bn of economic gains on both sides of the Atlantic.

“We must continue to develop our European social model in a confident way, so that it would be recognized as a reference for a just globalization and a fair world trade”, he stressed.

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There is a growing mistrust with the USA in Europe’s leading country amid the scandal over mass electronic surveillance of Germans’ communications and the escalating refugee crisis, which many see as a result of failed American policies in the Middle East.

Michael Dalder