bilaterals.org | EU leaders seek to overcome hostility to US trade deal
EU leaders seek to overcome hostility to US trade deal
[BRUSSELS] EU leaders defended plans for the world’s biggest trade deal with the United States, seeking on Thursday to counter hostility in Europe and clear the way for the accord to be agreed by the end of 2015.
The European Union and the United States have committed to an accord that would create a transatlantic market of 800 million people and encompass almost half the world economy.
But campaigns against the deal have gathered momentum in recent months across Europe. Activists including environmental and anti-globalisation campaigners are trying to stop negotiations they say will allow US multinationals to bully EU governments into lowering food, labour and environmental standards or influence how health services are run.
