German minister says EU-U.S. trade talks must be more open-paper
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany would benefit from a free trade agreement between the United States and the European Union but negotiations need to be held more transparently or no deal will be possible, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was quoted as saying.
Germany's government wants to continue the trade talks called the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) despite a deepening rift between Berlin and Washington over fresh allegations the United states has been spying on its ally.
"The European Commission must understand that more transparency is necessary. Otherwise the agreement doesn't have a sliver of a chance in the EU Parliament or in the member states," Schaeuble told Badische Zeitung newspaper.
"It is my conviction that Germany would benefit from such an agreement," he told the paper's Tuesday edition.
Negotiators meeting in Brussels for a sixth round of talks this week hope to reach a deal sometime next year. But public opinion in Europe's largest economy has been strongly against a deal, not just since the latest spying revelations.
Concerns range from a lack of transparency in the way the negotiations are led to fears that health and safety standards of food could be compromised in a potential deal.
They also include concerns about a dispute solving mechanism which allows companies to bring claims against a country if it breaches the trade treaty. Some Germans see that as "privatising the legal system" by evading lengthy court proceedings.
Schaeuble said TTIP was "very important" for the German government and the country would make no compromises on its legal tradition.
"Given often drawn-out trials in national courts it's understandable that companies want to avoid that. But nobody will seriously believe that we will privatise our rule of law."
Public opinion matters because the European Parliament must ratify the pact and Germany has the largest number of lawmakers in the parliament.
Speaking about U.S.- German relations generally, Schaeuble said a loss of trust was the real issue resulting from U.S. espionage, which he has called "nonsensical and stupid". Intelligence services should be kept under check, he added.
"The Americans should understand that they can only fulfil their job in the world if they vouch for the attractiveness of our western model of society."
Berlin last week ordered the CIA representative to leave the country following fresh espionage reports. The affair has cooled relations with Washington to a low not seen since Chancellor Angela Merkel's predecessor opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.
(Reporting by Annika Breidthardt and Gernot Heller; editing by Ralph Boulton)
