Leaked documents reveal u.s. pressure for TTIP

Papers published by Greenpeace indicate that, to boost free trade agreement with the EU, Washington would have threatened to hamper exports of European cars andpressed for the opening of the agricultural market.

Confidential documents disclosed by the German press on Sunday (01/05) and made public by Greenpeace on Monday revealed that the United States pressured the European Union (EU) to adopt the transatlantic partnership agreement on trade and investment (TTIP).

The German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and the public broadcasters WDR andNDR, had access to over 240 pages of documents relating to negotiations for TTIP, initially obtained by Greenpeace. When publishing the papers on the internet, the Organization criticized the agreement, stating that he would put corporate interests above environmental and consumer safety.

"This Treaty is threatening to have far-reaching implications for the environment and the lives of more than 800 million citizens in the EU and in the us," said Greenpeace during submission of documents in Berlin.

Washington threatened to spread the efforts to facilitate the export of European cars to the u.s., said the German press based on the documents. The goal would be to force the EU to consume agricultural products Americans, considered most at risk. The EU principle of which the goods must be certified as safe has been used frequently to restrict imports of genetically modified food or meat treated with hormones in the United States.

The American threat to block exports of European cars aims to push the EU to replace the consumer safety principles, adopted by the European block, for a more liberal approach, such as the United States, which allows trade in food goods until the risks are proven.

According to the news agency DPA, people close to the negotiations would have confirmed the authenticity of the documents. So far, the access to information about the progress of the talks has been rather limited.

Documents confirm fears

The TTIP, whose negotiations occur in extreme secrecy, encounters strong resistance among the German population. On the occasion of the visit of u.s. President Barack Obama the Hanonver fair, tens of thousands of people held a demonstration against the deal.

According to the German press, the documents show that the United States would be trying to block the European requirement that the panels that will arbitrate the corporate legal processes should be sensitive, not how they want the Americans.

The Director of the German consumer protection agencies, Klaus Müller stated the Süddeutsche Zeitung that the leaked documents confirm "virtually all our fears in terms of what the Americans want to achieve on the market of food production through TTIP".

Jürgen Knirsch, Greenpeace trade expert, said the little that is known so far about the negotiations "sounds like a nightmare". "Now we know that this could very likely come true".

During the visit to the Hannover Fair last week, Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, asked for urgency in the negotiations on the agreement. The American President said wait for TTIP is completed in 2017.

However, last Friday, the main negotiators of both sides said the goal is to concludethe Treaty before the end of the mandate of Obama, in January of next year.