The European Commission said in an email late last week to the 28 European Union ambassadors that there will be no Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) before President Obama leaves office unless the United States changes its approach to TTIP negotiations, according to a report from Politico.
In its email, the European Commission criticized U.S. Ambassador to the EU Anthony Gardner for criticizing European Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan for making a “series of misleading statements in the press.” Gardner said in an email to the EU ambassadors that “while differences of opinion are natural, especially on tough issues like agriculture, they should be aired privately, rather than in the public arena.”
Gardner also wrote that “EU tariffs are 2 to 3 times as high as U.S. tariffs and EU non-tariff barriers have virtually eliminated many of our key exports.” This recent development is the latest sign of increasing difficulty behind the TTIP talks with each side digging in and hinting that the other side is not negotiating in good faith.
The European Commission subsequently made it clear that it believes the United States is unwilling to engage seriously in areas of importance to Europe and is stalling negotiations. “The EU has not yet seen substantial progress in areas of significant importance to EU agriculture, such as geographical indications, wine, and non-tariff barriers. The U.S. administration does not yet seem to be in a place where it can reciprocate the EU’s efforts in TTIP and to start delivering on matters of EU interest.”
Support for TTIP, which had previously been viewed as a potential trophy for EU-U.S. relations is now wavering in a number of key countries, including France. French President Hollande previously said at the G7 Summit that the United States has to go “way further” to gain his support of TTIP. Germany’s Deputy Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said last Sunday that Angela Merkel would be wrong to push speed over quality in the 2016 TTIP negotiations.
