News / Foreign Policy

US-EU TTIP deal would favor corporations: Activist group

Monday, 02 May 2016 10:46 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 02 May 2016 10:43 PM ]

Protesters wear masks of Barack Obama and Angela Merkel as they demonstrate against TTIP free trade agreement.

Activist group Greenpeace has leaked classified documents from a trade deal being negotiated by the US with the European Union, slamming the pact over environmental and consumer safety concerns.

On Monday, the group published online 248 pages of classified documents it obtained from the trade talks held over the EU-US free trade deal, officially called the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

The TTIP has raised fears that US corporations may erode Europe's consumer protections.

"This treaty is threatening to have far-reaching implications for the environment and the lives of more than 800 million citizens in the European Union and the United States," Greenpeace said.

The Greenpeace argues that the deal would hand too much power to big businesses at the expense of consumers and national governments.

The TTIP "would put corporations at the center of policy making, to the detriment of the environment and public health. We have known that the EU position was bad; now we see that the US position is even worse. A compromise between the two would be unacceptable."

However, the European Commission said the leaked documents reflect only negotiating positions, not any final outcome.

"Many of today's alarmist headlines are a storm in a teacup," said EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom on Monday.

The White House had no comment on the truthfulness of the documents, but said the leak was unlikely to derail the negotiations.

*Farmers and members of Milieudefensie (Dutch environmental organization) demonstrate against the controversial TTIP in The Hague on April 26, 2016. (AFP)*

Washington and Brussels both want to finalize the pact before President Barack Obama leaves office in January, 2017.

A week ago, when Obama met with Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany, they both urged the need for completion of the deal.

“Angela and I agree that the United States and the European Union need to keep moving forward with the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations,” Obama said last Sunday.

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