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Hundreds of thousands join German trade deal protest
Posted by Lou on September 17, 2016Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to take to the streets across Germany on Saturday in protest against a massive transatlantic trade deal, dealing a new blow to the disputed accord.
Source: Hundreds of thousands join German trade deal protest – The Local
http://www.thelocal.de
Sept 17, 2016
Protesters in Stuttgart march against TTIP. Photo: Silas Stone / dpa
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to take to the streets across Germany on Saturday in protest against a massive transatlantic trade deal, dealing a new blow to the disputed accord.
“We hope that more than 250,000 participants will join in the march nationwide,” said Roland Suess from the anti-globalisation group Attac, one of the organisers of the demonstrations in seven German cities, including the capital Berlin and economic powerhouse Frankfurt.
The European Union and the United States began negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) in 2013, aiming to create the world’s biggest free trade market of 850 million consumers.
A new round of talks are due to start in October and US President Barack Obama wants the deal concluded before he leaves office in January.
A smaller version of TTIP is also in the works with Canada, and that deal, called CETA, is due to be signed in October. Exporters want the deal as it promises lower tariffs, less red tape and a wider base of consumers for their goods.
But the negotiations have faced opposition in Europe, where consumers fear it would ride roughshod over the currently 28-nation bloc’s labour market and environmental standards, and lead to more outsourcing and thereby job losses.
Another prickly issue is plans for a special court to hear cases by companies against governments over breaches of regulatory issues, which opponents see as giving firms a veto over public policy. Not only the people, but European governments too are torn over the planned deals.
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Hundreds of thousands join German trade deal protest – The Local
Thanks to Lou at: https://talesfromtheloublog.wordpress.com
