France is threatening to reject the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a U.S.-EU free trade agreement encompassing half of the world economy after the 13th round of talks were held last week.
French President Francois Hollande said earlier this week that France “will 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 U.S. business.
“We are not for free trade without rules. We will never accept questioning essential principles to our agriculture, our culture, and for the reciprocity of access to public markets. At this stage, France says no,” Hollande said.
French Trade Minister Matthias Fekl said in a radio interview that negotiations “are totally blocked” and that a halt to talks “is the most probably option.” “In its current state, France cannot sign it,” Matthias said. “Europe is giving a lot…but receiving very little in return.”
Trevor Kincaid, a spokesman for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, defended the deal as mutually beneficial and said the differences between the two sides are being worked out. “We are confident that we are on track to deliver a high standard TTIP that reflects the interests and democratic values of both the U.S. and EU, and makes commonsense updates to out existing economic relationship,” Kincaid said in a statement.
If France walked away from TTIP, talks on the agreement between Europe and the United States would almost certainly come to an end since the trade agreement must be approved by each of the 28 countries in the European Union. In addition, the U.S. presidential race may be complicated negotiations, making it increasingly unlikely that President Obama can achieve a deal before he leaves office.
