THE LATEST: EUROPE REJECTS TO SUBJECT ITSELF TO USA

German Economy Minister:

"TTIP Talks Have Failed"

by FRANK JORDANS Associated Press

In the latest blow for Obama's global trade agenda, German Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said that free trade talks between the European Union and the United States have failed, citing a lack of progress on any of the major sections of the long-running negotiations. "In my opinion the negotiations with the United States have de facto failed, even though nobody is really admitting it" ZDF quoted the minister, according to a written transcript of the interview to be aired on Sunday. “[They] have failed because we Europeans did not want to subject ourselves to American demands.”

BERLIN (AP) — Free trade talks between the European Union and the United States have failed, Germany's economy minister said Sunday, citing a lack of progress on any of the major sections of the long-running negotiations. 

Both Washington and Brussels have pushed for a deal by the end of the year, despite strong misgivings among some EU member states over the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP. 

Sigmar Gabriel, who is also Germany's vice chancellor, compared the TTIP negotiations unfavorably with a free trade deal forged between the 28-nation EU and Canada, which he said was fairer for both sides. 

"In my opinion, the negotiations with the United States have de facto failed, even though nobody is really admitting it," Gabriel said during a question-and-answer session with citizens in Berlin. 

He noted that in 14 rounds of talks, the two sides haven't agreed on a single common item out of 27 chapters being discussed. 

Gabriel accused Washington of being "angry" about the deal that the EU struck with Canada, known as CETA, because it contains elements the U.S. doesn't want to see in the TTIP. 

"We mustn't submit to the American proposals," said Gabriel, who is also the head of Germany's center-left Social Democratic Party. 

In Washington, there was no immediate comment from the office of the U.S. trade representative. 

Christian Wigand, a spokesman for the European Commission, the EU's executive arm and which is leading the TTIP negotiations, said Sunday that the institution had no comment or reaction at this time. 

Gabriel's ministry isn't directly involved in the negotiations with Washington because trade agreements are negotiated at the EU level. But such a damning verdict from a leading official in Europe's biggest economy is likely to make further talks between the EU executive and the Obama administration harder. 

Gabriel's comments contrast with those of Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said last month that TTIP was "absolutely in Europe's interest." 

Popular opposition to a free trade agreement with the United States is strong in Germany. Campaigners have called for nationwide protests against the talks on Sept. 17 — about year before Germany's next general election.

European critics of the TTIP have claimed that the treaty is dangerous as it could place the interest of international corporations above those of the nations they operate in, and undermine European standards for labor and environmental protections. Germany, where support for the TIIP has plunged over the past year, has seen a number of popular protests demanding that the TTIP never be implemented.

A recent survey, conducted by YouGov for the Bertelsmann Foundation, showed that only 17 percent of Germans believe the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is a good thing, down from 55 percent two years ago. [Comments by Tyler Durden, Zero Hedge]

WHAT IS TTIP?

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a major new deal being negotiated behind closed doors between the EU and USA.

It will cost at least 1 million jobs, undermine our most treasured public services, lead to a ‘race to the bottom’ in food, environmental and labour standards and, for the first time, allow US companies to sue the UK government in special courts.

TTIP will change our lives forever.

TTIP is marketed as the answer to recession in Europe and the USA, with bogus promises of growth and jobs.

Yet the official study commissioned at the start of the talks calculated that at least 1 million people will lose their jobs in the EU and USA as a direct result of TTIP. With unemployment already at record levels in much of Europe, these people will find it impossible to get new jobs.

TTIP is not just about the EU and USA. Negotiators say that TTIP will set the standard for all future trade and investment rules across the world. This means that TTIP will enshrine the rights of transnational corporations over and above the needs of people and the planet, forever.

The three pillars of TTIP

Deregulation - TTIP is not a traditional trade agreement designed to reduce border tariffs on exports. With tariffs between the EU and US already at minimal levels, the stated aim of TTIP is to remove regulations that act as ‘barriers’ to corporate profits.

Yet these ‘barriers’ are in reality some of our most prized social standards and environmental regulations such as labour rights, food safety rules (including on GMOs), regulations on the use of toxic chemicals, digital privacy laws and even new banking safeguards introduced to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis.

Privatization - TTIP will boost corporate profits by opening up public services and government contracts to the private sector and ‘locking in’ privatisations that have already happened.

Companies such as Virgin are already running front line health care services as a result of the Health and Social Care Act 2012. Health services are included in TTIP and NHS privatisation will be irreversible if the deal goes through. The same holds true for education, water and environmental services, as well as for any hope of renationalising the railways. Under TTIP, privatisation is for ever.

Corporate Courts - TTIP will grant US companies a new power to sue any future government in corporate courts for loss of profits. This ‘investor-state dispute settlement’ mechanism (ISDS) threatens to undermine the most basic principles of democracy, as previous cases from other treaties show:

- Dutch firm Achmea successfully sued the new government of Slovakia for reversing an unpopular health privatisation.

- Canadian company TransCanada is suing the USA for $15 billion for stopping a tar sands pipeline in the name of climate change

- Swedish company Vattenfall is suing the German government for €5 billion over its decision to phase out nuclear power by 2022.

- Veolia is suing the Egyptian government for loss of profits as a result of the country’s decision to raise the minimum wage.

- US company Lone Pine is suing Canada for the ban on fracking in Quebec.

[Source: War on Want]

In the same time USA is completing the Trans-Pacific Trade Agreement (TPP) in order to enhance its influence in trade around the Globe.
This USA intention is in a high accordance with the World Trade Organization (WTO) that "promotes" free trade with no boundaries and restrictions, giving to corporations an obvious advantage that is going to suffocate national economies of  developing, and undeveloped countries putting them into slavery.