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Eugene

(61,872 posts)
Sun May 1, 2016, 02:23 PM May 2016

Leaked TTIP documents cast doubt on EU-US trade deal

Source: The Guardian

Leaked TTIP documents cast doubt on EU-US trade deal

Greenpeace says internal documents show US attempts to lower or
circumvent EU protection for environment and public health


Arthur Neslen in Brussels
Sunday 1 May 2016 18.00 BST Last modified on Sunday 1 May 2016 18.21 BST

Talks for a free trade deal between Europe and the US face a serious impasse with “irreconcilable” differences in some areas, according to leaked negotiating texts.

The two sides are also at odds over US demands that would require the EU to break promises it has made on environmental protection.

President Obama said last week he was confident a deal could be reached. But the leaked negotiating drafts and internal positions, which were obtained by Greenpeace and seen by the Guardian, paint a very different picture.

“Discussions on cosmetics remain very difficult and the scope of common objectives fairly limited,” says one internal note by EU trade negotiators. Because of a European ban on animal testing, “the EU and US approaches remain irreconcilable and EU market access problems will therefore remain,” the note says.

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Jorgo Riss, the director of Greenpeace EU, said: “These leaked documents give us an unparalleled look at the scope of US demands to lower or circumvent EU protections for environment and public health as part of TTIP. The EU position is very bad, and the US position is terrible. The prospect of a TTIP compromising within that range is an awful one. The way is being cleared for a race to the bottom in environmental, consumer protection and public health standards.”

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/may/01/leaked-ttip-documents-cast-doubt-on-eu-us-trade-deal
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Leaked TTIP documents cast doubt on EU-US trade deal (Original Post) Eugene May 2016 OP
Why am I not surprised? Oh, maybe it's neoliberalism ...riiiight. hedda_foil May 2016 #1
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