Thursday

30th Nov 2023

French minister: 'TTIP talks are not transparent'

  • Trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom is negotiating a free trade deal in the name of the EU. (Photo: European Commission)

Negotiations for an EU-US free trade agreement "are not transparent" and could end if no progress is made, French trade minister Mathias Fekl said.

Talks between the European Commission and US authorities are going on "in a complete lack of transparency and a big opacity, and this poses a democratic problem," Fekl said in an interview with French regional newspaper Sud Ouest published Monday (28 September).

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"US parliamentarians have access to many more documents than European parliamentarians," he said, adding that Europeans can have access to the documents only in a secured room at the US embassy.

Negotiations for the so-called Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) started in July 2013 and will not be completed this year, as previously expected by the EU.

"Europe made multiple offers, on all issues, and in return got no serious offer for the Americans, neither on access to their public procurements, nor on access to agricultural and food-processing markets, which remain closed," Fekl detailed.

"There is too much asymmetry, not enough reciprocity," between the EU and the US, he said, adding that the US does not show interest in EU demands on public services and the arbitration system.

On 16 September, EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom presented plans for an "investment court system" that would replace the ISDS (investor-to-state dispute settlement) mechanism that has been planned so far in the TTIP.

ISDS, which is a private arbitration system, has been opposed by NGOs, MEPs and some countries including France.

"If nothing changes, that will show that there is no will to achieve mutually beneficial negotiations," Fekl said.

"France is considering all options, including an outright end of negotiations".

TTIP protesters warn of Trojan Horse

Anti-TTIP demonstrators do not trust European negotiators, who will engage in the 11th round of discussions next week in Miami.

Opinion

Will EU climate chief Hoekstra come clean before COP28?

As the new EU climate commissioner, Wopke Hoekstra, heads to COP28, three senior MEPs question his ties to the fossil-fuel industry — and call for him to disclose all his ties while working for 11 years for McKinsey.

Latest News

  1. 'Pay or okay?' — Facebook & Instagram vs the EU
  2. EU offers Turkey upgrade, as Sweden nears Nato entry
  3. Russia loses seat on board of chemical weapons watchdog
  4. Finland's closure of Russia border likely violates asylum law
  5. The EU's 'no added sugars' fruit-juice label sleight-of-hand
  6. EU belittles Russia's Lavrov on way to Skopje talks
  7. Member states stall on EU ban on forced-labour products
  8. EU calls for increased fuel supplies into Gaza

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  3. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  4. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  5. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  6. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us