Knotty free-trade deal dragging EU and US down the wrong road
The EU and US representatives have held 14 rounds of talks in the past three years trying to reach an ambitious free-trade deal, but top French and German officials were criticizing the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations.
The European Union, however, said the free-trade deal - originally supposed to be struck before US President Barack Obama leaves the White House - is still achievable. That was in response to Germany's Minister of Economic Affairs Sigmar Gabriel's remark on Aug 28 that, the talks had basically failed because not a single agreement had been reached, and "nobody is really admitting it".
In May, French President Francois Hollande had even warned that any deal that allows the US to invest freely in European public services should be rejected.
