Germany’s Vice-Chancellor said in 14 rounds of talks neither side had
agreed on a single common chapter out of the 27 being deliberated.
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Protesters rally against the TTIP and CETA free trade agreements, April 2016 Getty |
The free trade negotiations between the European Union and the United
States have failed, but “nobody is really admitting it”, Germany's
Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel has said.
Talks over the so-called Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, also known as TTIP, have made little progress in recent years.
The 14th round of negotiations between American and EU officials took place in Brussels in July. It was the third round in six months.
At the time, the talks were thought to be in trouble after a number
of leading European politicians expressed concern about TTIP’s effects
and the US’s reluctance to accept changes to the proposed deal.
In May, cracks emerged when France threatened to block the deal.
President Hollande said he would "never accept" the deal in its
current guise because of the rules it enforces on France and the rest of
Europe – particularly in relation to farming and culture – claiming
they are too friendly to US businesses.
“We will never accept questioning essential principles for our agriculture, our culture and for the reciprocity of access to public
[procurement] markets,” Mr Hollande is reported as saying at a meeting
of left-wing politicians in Paris. “At this stage [of the talks] France
says, ‘No'.”
Speaking on Sunday, Mr 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."
He said that during the talks neither side had agreed on a single common chapter out of the 27 being deliberated.
He further denounced the TTIP negotiations, saying the free trade
deal proposed between the EU and Canada – the Comprehensive Economic and
Trade Agreement (CETA) – was fairer for all parties.
Critics say one of the main concerns with TTIP is that it could allow
multinational corporations to effectively “sue” governments for taking
actions that might damage their businesses.
They claim US companies might be able to avoid having to meet various
EU health, safety and environment regulations by challenging them in a
quasi-court set up to resolve disputes between investors and states.
The UK was seen as one of the strongest supporters of TTIP in the EU,
so its departure following the Brexit vote would remove one of the US's
closest allies in the talks.
Last month, Nick Dearden of campaign group Global Justice Now, said: “The TTIP negotiations were already on pretty shaky ground
before the EU referendum, and now the shockwaves of Brexit are
threatening to derail the deal entirely.”
“With senior political figures from France and Italy signalling that
the deal is dead in the water, surely it’s time for Cecilia Malmström
[EU trade commissioner] to call time on this failed corporate coup.
“The toxic trade deals being pushed by Brussels would only benefit
tiny financial elites, while the ordinary people of the EU would be
stripped of legal protections of labour rights, consumer standards and
public services.
“If the EU is going to prevent further disintegration after Brexit,
it needs to stop prioritising corporate power grabs and start addressing
issues such as rising inequality and social exclusion.”
Leading opposition figures in the UK have previously said they are worried about the effect TTIP could have on the NHS.
In October last year Jeremy Corbyn, Nicola Sturgeon, Nigel Farage and
Natalie Bennett all signed an appeal urging the NHS to be exempt from
the deal.
Campaigners have said previously that the UK may end up with “TTIP on steroids” if it does leave the EU.
They have also warned against the controversial TTIP trade deal with the US, fearing the UK will negotiate an “even more disastrous” agreement after it leaves the EU.
The 6 reasons why we should be scared of TTIP
The
NHS
Public
services, especially the NHS, are in the firing line. One of the main
aims of TTIP is to open up Europe’s public health, education and
water services to US companies. This could essentially mean the
privatisation of the NHS. The European Commission has claimed that
public services will be kept out of TTIP. However, according to the
Huffington Post, the UK Trade Minister Lord Livingston has admitted
that talks about the NHS were still on the table
Getty
Food
and environmental safety
TIP’s
‘regulatory convergence’ agenda will seek to bring EU standards
on food safety and the environment closer to those of the US. But US
regulations are much less strict, with 70 per cent of all processed
foods sold in US supermarkets now containing genetically modified
ingredients. By contrast, the EU allows virtually no GM foods. The US
also has far laxer restrictions on the use of pesticides. It also
uses growth hormones in its beef which are restricted in Europe due
to links to cancer. US farmers have tried to have these restrictions
lifted repeatedly in the past through the World Trade Organisation
and it is likely that they will use TTIP to do so again
Getty
Banking
regulations
TTIP
cuts both ways. The UK, under the influence of the all-powerful City
of London, is thought to be seeking a loosening of US banking
regulations. America’s financial rules are tougher than ours. They
were put into place after the financial crisis to directly curb the
powers of bankers and avoid a similar crisis happening again. TTIP,
it is feared, will remove those restrictions, effectively handing all
those powers back to the bankers
Getty/Bloomberg
Privacy
Remember
ACTA (the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement)? It was thrown out by
a massive majority in the European Parliament in 2012 after a huge
public backlash against what was rightly seen as an attack on
individual privacy where internet service providers would be required
to monitor people’s online activity. Well, it’s feared that TTIP
could be bringing back ACTA’s central elements, proving that if the
democratic approach doesn’t work, there’s always the back door.
An easing of data privacy laws and a restriction of public access to
pharmaceutical companies’ clinical trials are also thought to be on
the cards
AFP/Getty
Images
Jobs
The
EU has admitted that TTIP will probably cause unemployment as jobs
switch to the US, where labour standards and trade union rights are
lower. It has even advised EU members to draw on European support
funds to compensate for the expected unemployment. Examples from
other similar bi-lateral trade agreements around the world support
the case for job losses. The North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) between the US, Canada and Mexico caused the loss of one
million US jobs over 12 years, instead of the hundreds of thousands
of extra that were promised
Dave
Thompson/Getty Images
Democracy
TTIP’s
biggest threat to society is its inherent assault on democracy. One
of the main aims of TTIP is the introduction of Investor-State
Dispute Settlements (ISDS), which allow companies to sue governments
if those governments’ policies cause a loss of profits. In effect
it means unelected transnational corporations can dictate the
policies of democratically elected governments
AFP/Getty
Source: Independent.co.uk
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