TTIP Opposition Grows Among Europeans

By Justin Kirschner

Between 150,000 and 250,000 turned out in Berlin to protest TTIP, the trade deal being negotiated between the U.S. and the EU.  The deal’s opponents also presented the European Commission with what they claim are 3 million signatures from people who oppose the deal. TTIP’s opponents worry that the deal will force the EU to lower its food and environmental standards in order to “harmonize” with U.S. regulations.  They say that the deal—negotiations for which are so shrouded in secrecy that Wikileaks has even offered a 100,000 euro reward for portions of the deal’s text—worsens the democratic deficit many Europeans feel is inherent in the EU’s structure. For their part, the deal’s European proponents argue that TTIP will stimulate economies on both sides of the Atlantic and set trade rules of the road based on U.S./EU values that others will adopt. European opposition to TTIP sounds a lot like the opposition many Americans are voicing against the recently completed Trans-Pacific Partnership - opposition that may yet doom that deal in Congress. So far, TTIP negotiators are plowing ahead even in the face of public resistance.