During a debate in the French Senate, all political parties harshly
criticized the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP),
but the French government defended the potential deal, EurActiv France reports.
The minister in charge of foreign trade, Nicole Bricq, admit with regret that France was the country where the mobilisation against what they call the 'transatlantic treaty', is the strongest.
A debate, which took place in the Senate on Thursday (9 January), showed bipartisan opposition to the agreement and the government found itself somewhat isolated on the topic after facing criticism from
speakers from all political sides.
he former French interior minister, Jean-Pierre Chevènement, reminded that the idea for a partnership was first and foremost an American idea, as the US wished to rebalance the trade surplus that the EU had with the country and bring back jobs to their continent.
“The companies’ interests are not always those of the states," warned a politician, who considers that the currency issue should have been settled before signing a trade agreement.
“We should have put in place a transatlantic snake in the tunnel in order to establish, softly, a real parity between the euro and the dollar. We cannot talk about free trade when the parity between euro and
dollar go from one to two in ten years only.”
In his opinion, this aspect should be included in the negotiations, but the minister Bricq replied it was not on the agenda.
André Gattolin, a Green MP, also strongly opposed the partnership project, said that Europe had its own identity and should preserve it. He also put forward the impact it would have on inequality in different European countries.
“We are promised 0.5% growth but only some zones will take advantage of it like the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp,” the MP went on to say.
“As it is, this project is bad and we saw with the NSA scandal that the dice are loaded,” he added.
Jean Bizet from the centre-right opposition, UMP, expressed concern about the food and agriculture aspects of the deal and notably the milk file, as cheese imports increase in France and milk producing regions grow anxious at the end of milk quotas in 2015.
The sharpest remark came from a member of the government's socialist majority, Marie-Noëlle Lienemann.
“I am very hostile to this treaty,” she said. “We are forced to note that happy globalisation did not happen! … multinational companies are in a situation that we cannot regulate,” she added.
The MP was sceptical about the growth perspectives, too. She added that the promised growth points could be reached with a recovery policy supported by large-scale work projects.
Read more: French senators strongly attack EU-US trade deal | EurActiv
The minister in charge of foreign trade, Nicole Bricq, admit with regret that France was the country where the mobilisation against what they call the 'transatlantic treaty', is the strongest.
A debate, which took place in the Senate on Thursday (9 January), showed bipartisan opposition to the agreement and the government found itself somewhat isolated on the topic after facing criticism from
speakers from all political sides.
he former French interior minister, Jean-Pierre Chevènement, reminded that the idea for a partnership was first and foremost an American idea, as the US wished to rebalance the trade surplus that the EU had with the country and bring back jobs to their continent.
“The companies’ interests are not always those of the states," warned a politician, who considers that the currency issue should have been settled before signing a trade agreement.
“We should have put in place a transatlantic snake in the tunnel in order to establish, softly, a real parity between the euro and the dollar. We cannot talk about free trade when the parity between euro and
dollar go from one to two in ten years only.”
In his opinion, this aspect should be included in the negotiations, but the minister Bricq replied it was not on the agenda.
André Gattolin, a Green MP, also strongly opposed the partnership project, said that Europe had its own identity and should preserve it. He also put forward the impact it would have on inequality in different European countries.
“We are promised 0.5% growth but only some zones will take advantage of it like the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp,” the MP went on to say.
“As it is, this project is bad and we saw with the NSA scandal that the dice are loaded,” he added.
Jean Bizet from the centre-right opposition, UMP, expressed concern about the food and agriculture aspects of the deal and notably the milk file, as cheese imports increase in France and milk producing regions grow anxious at the end of milk quotas in 2015.
The sharpest remark came from a member of the government's socialist majority, Marie-Noëlle Lienemann.
“I am very hostile to this treaty,” she said. “We are forced to note that happy globalisation did not happen! … multinational companies are in a situation that we cannot regulate,” she added.
The MP was sceptical about the growth perspectives, too. She added that the promised growth points could be reached with a recovery policy supported by large-scale work projects.
Read more: French senators strongly attack EU-US trade deal | EurActiv
