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A
similar agreement between the EU and Canada can finally be
signed on Sunday after resistance from Belgian local governments
led to a last-minute blockade of the agreement which was seven
years in the making.
Paul Magnette, the premier of Belgium's region of Wallonia who
led opposition to the Canadian trade deal, told his parliament
on Friday that with the concessions he managed to agree, the
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) was "dead
and buried".
Malmstrom said she disagreed with that assessment and work would
continue with the new U.S. administration.
"TTIP is not dead, but TTIP is not yet an agreement," she told
reporters after a ceremony in Brussels, in which Belgium signed
its addendum to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement
(CETA) with Canada.
"The U.S. election will naturally bring the negotiations to a
pause and we will resume after with the new administration," she
added.
Both TTIP and CETA have sparked demonstrations by unions and
protest groups who say the agreements will lead to a 'race to
the bottom' in labor, environmental and public health standards
and allow big business to challenge democratically elected
governments across Europe.
Washington and Brussels were committed to sealing TTIP before
President Barack Obama leaves office in January, but both sides
now recognize that this will not happen.
Some European politicians have called for TTIP talks to be
halted and relaunched after the U.S. presidential elections with
greater transparency, clearer goals and a different name.
Malmstrom said lessons from the Canadian negotiations would aid
in making a deal with the United States.
"Some of the experiences, some of the procedures that we have
experienced with CETA, will also be reflected in our work on
TTIP," she said.
(Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek; Editing by Stephen Powell)
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