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 To the dismay of many in Brussels and Washington, Germans are now
taking a very different view. That is putting Europe's biggest
exporter in the unusual situation of becoming one of the most vocal
opponents of the world's biggest trade deal.
A transatlantic pact would create a market of 800 million people and
allow Germany to sell more of its luxury cars, trains and chemicals
in the United States, an attractive proposition for an economy that
has faltered in recent months.
But in a twist that few officials expected, European concerns about
the threat to food and the environment have found their strongest
voice in Germany, amplified by the country's influential Green party
and anger at reports of U.S. spying.
The difficulty of selling the benefits of a deal, which could
generate $100 billion a year in economic growth for both the EU and
the United States, is a sign of the challenge for governments
seeking to contain a growing hostility to the talks.
"We do not want this sort of agreement," said Ska Keller, a
32-year-old German Green who gained prominence at home during
European elections in May by putting the trade deal at the center of
her campaign. "I don't expect anything positive to come out of the
negotiations," she told Reuters.
Even before the latest reports of U.S. spying in Germany, the idea
that the U.S. technique of disinfecting chicken with chlorine might
be introduced in Europe has alarmed Germans and highlights their
wider suspicions about an EU-U.S. accord.
The phrase "Chlorhuehnchen", or chlorine chicken, has entered the
parlance of everyone from taxi drivers to housewives since trade
negotiations began a year ago.
An Internet search for the term generates thousands of results,
bringing up cartoons of animals dumped in vats of chemicals and
stabbed with needles.
A majority of Germans believe chlorine-washed chicken is a danger to
human health despite its successful use in the United States to kill
bacteria, according to survey by pollster Forsa.
In the European Union, antibiotics are used. Brussels says there
will be no change in policy even with a U.S. deal.
'ALIEN' ACCORD
Chancellor Merkel was instrumental in getting EU leaders to agree to
negotiations with the United States towards the so-called
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP.
A deal would strengthen a transatlantic trade relationship already
worth $3 billion a day, remove barriers to business and strengthen
the West's power over China to shape world trade.
Negotiators meeting in Brussels for a sixth round of talks this week
hope to reach an agreement sometime next year. But they are
struggling to raise awareness beyond vocal labor and consumer groups
who largely oppose an accord.
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The EU's trade chief, Karel De Gucht, has warned that many Europeans
think the TTIP "is an extraterrestrial."
Public support is crucial because the U.S. Congress and the European
Parliament must ratify the pact. Germany has the largest contingent
of lawmakers in the parliament.
Unlike some of their EU counterparts, Germans are aware of the
negotiations. Barely a week goes by without the topic being raised
on TV talk shows, in magazines, newspapers and on the radio.
Unfortunately for proponents of a deal, much of the commentary is
negative.
"It is easier to win an argument with fear than with facts," said a
German businessman in the chemical industry. "Chlorine chicken ...
genetically modified foods - these are out of the agreement, but it
is hard to get the message across."
"PAYDAY FOR VULTURES"
And it's not just about food.
Plans to allow companies to bring claims against a country if it
breaches the trade treaty have created a furor in Germany, even
though Berlin uses the dispute mechanism in other trade accords and
is credited with having invented it in the 1950s.
"Payday For Vultures" ran a headline about the issue in German
weekly Der Spiegel on March 10.
German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel has said he sees the
mechanism as unnecessary, as both the EU and the United States have
strong enough legal systems to protect investors.
The United States is unlikely to accept a trade agreement without
the dispute mechanism. But to make matters worse, the new chairman
of the European Parliament's influential trade committee, Germany's
Bernd Lange, is strongly against it.
The U.S. ambassador to the European Union, Anthony Gardner, has
expressed concern.
"I have never met Mr. Lange, but perhaps is important to explain to
him the history of this mechanism," Gardner told reporters this
month. "It was indeed invented in Germany."
For now, EU and U.S. officials say they are on the front foot in
their campaign to sell the benefits of the deal.
The EU's De Gucht is one of the most active, visiting German
universities and giving speeches to Germany's upper house of
parliament. But there no sign yet that Germany is convinced.
"There's a delusion that somehow Germany has the same attitude to
free trade that Britain does, and that is just not true," said
Phillippe Legrain, a former advisor to the president of the European
Commission.
"Being a big exporter doesn't mean that you like opening your
markets," he said.
(Additional reporting by Annika Breidthardt in Berlin and Francesco
Guarascio in Brussels; Editing by Larry King and John Stonestreet)
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