TTIP won’t happen anytime soon: French ambassador

Tuesday, 23 February 2016 9:31 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 23 February 2016 11:08 AM ]

(L-R) Daniel Rosario, European Commission’s spokesperson for Agriculture and Rural Development, Ignacio Garcia Bercero, European Union chief negotiator for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), and Dan Mullaney, US TTIP chief negotiator, deliver a press conference at the end of the 10th round of the TTIP negotiations at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels on July 17, 2015. (AFP)

France's ambassador to Washington has cast doubt on a swift conclusion of a long-sought transatlantic economic partnership between the United States and the European Union (EU).

Gerard Araud said in a Monday tweet that the so-called Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), under negotiation since July 2013, will not come into fruition soon.

"The most sensitive issues have not been treated and we are a long way from an accord," said Araud.

"There won't be an agreement before the end of the [US President Barack] Obama administration, which means nothing before 2017/2018 at best," he predicted.

The comments come as the parties involved are in talks in Brussels, Belgium, during the 12th round of TTIP negotiations.

Top negotiators on the huge trade treaty between the EU and US opened new talks on Monday with the aim to tackle one of the deal's most controversial aspects.

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership would create the world's biggest free trade zone, removing tariffs and harmonizing regulation between the European Union and the United States.

EU sources said the negotiators would for the first time discuss in detail a divisive proposal to create an investment protection system that would allow companies to sue governments when they believe their interests have been harmed.

This idea has drawn fierce criticism in Europe, especially in Germany, where hundreds of thousands of people rallied in October to oppose the massive free-trade accord.

The European Commission, which handles trade talks for the EU's 28 member states, will offer the US an alternative proposal that would involve setting up a special court.

Opponents say TTIP is undemocratic and would lead to reckless deregulation at the expense of ordinary citizens.

The two sides aim to conclude TTIP this year, before the end of the Obama administration in the US. President Barack Obama travels to Germany in April to discuss the deal with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

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