EU insists 'ball still rolling' on US free trade deal

Brussels

THE European Commission on Monday insisted that talks on a huge US free trade deal were on track, rejecting German claims that irreconcilable differences had left the deal dead in the water.

"The ball is rolling right now. The Commission is making steady progress," Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said when asked about comments by German Vice-chancellor and Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel that the talks had "failed".

"Talks are now indeed entering a crucial stage but . . . provided the conditions are right, the Commission stands ready to close this deal by the end of the year," Mr Schinas told a regular press briefing.

"We have proposals for almost all chapters on the table and a good sense of the outline of the future agreement."

Mr Gabriel told German television on Sunday that "the talks with the US have de facto failed because we Europeans of course must not succumb to American demands . . . Nothing is moving forward".

Mr Schinas insisted that while the Commission, the EU's executive arm which conducts all bloc trade negotiations, wanted a deal, it would not come at any cost. Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has made clear "the Commission will not sacrifice Europe's social health and its data protection standards, nor its cultural diversity on the altar of free trade", Mr Schinas said.

Asked if the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) could go through without support from Germany, the EU's paymaster and largest economy, he said Mr Juncker had won fresh backing for the negotiations from all bloc leaders at a summit in July.

"At the last (summit), precisely because we were entering this difficult and complex stage, President Juncker addressed his counterparts, checking whether there was political backing to conclude the deal by the end of the year," Mr Schinas said. "We did not feel that there was a lack of support . . . we received the mandate to conclude these negotiations."

The EU and US began work on the TTIP in 2013, aiming to create the world's largest free trade area by the time US President Barack Obama leaves office in January next year.

But the talks have got bogged down amid widespread suspicion in the 28-nation EU that a deal would undercut bloc standards in key areas such as health and welfare.

Backers of a sweeping US-EU free trade deal see it bringing economic gains on both sides of the Atlantic. EU trade ministers will discuss the issue when they next meet in Bratislava on Sept 22.

Britain's June vote to leave the EU has further clouded the picture, although Mr Schinas insisted Brussels was still negotiating on behalf of all 28 members of the bloc, including London.

But the prospect of a Brexit has triggered fresh doubt that the TTIP can be completed in the final months of Mr Obama's term, as well as over Britain's exact status in any deal as London ponders its future ties with the EU. AFP, REUTERS