A major free trade deal being negotiated by the European Union and the United States is in danger after 248 pages of classified documents were leaked to Greenpeace.
Known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the deal’s advocates say it will boost growth and lower the price of consumer goods.
But detractors both in the EU and the US fear a loss of jobs and lowering of environmental and health and safety regulations. Opponents claim TTIP is shrouded in secrecy and has been negotiated behind closed doors with little input from the public.
Classified documents obtained by Greenpeace Monday have given a boost to TTIP’s opponents. Greenpeace claims the documents show the environmental standards and public’s health are at risk from TTIP.
EU officials were quick to rebuff such claims. “I am simply not in the business of lowering standards,” said EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem on her blog.
“It is not correct to say the US is pushing for lowering of the level of protection in the EU,” added Ignacio Garcia Bercero, the EU’s chief negotiator. The officials failed to convince Greenpeace.
“These leaked documents confirm what we have been saying for a long time: TTIP would put corporations at the centre of policy-making, to the detriment of environment and public health,” said Greenpeace EU director Jorgo Riss. “We have known that the EU position was bad, now we see the US position is even worse.”
Speaking just 24 hours after the documents were leaked, France’s Trade Minister Matthias Fekl warned the whole deal could be halted. “It is an agreement which, as it would be today, would be a bad deal,” he said on French radio. Fekl believes a freeze on TTIP talks is the “most likely option.”
With President Barack Obama nearing the end of his second term and both former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump voicing their skepticism of international free trade deals the clock is running out for TTIP.
All 28 EU member states, as well as Congress, will have to approve the deal. If TTIP doesn’t pass by November, the entire deal could be stalled indefinitely.
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