The European Union is conceding defeat over the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership hailed by President Barack Obama and Democrat Party candidate Hillary Clinton following the election of Republican Donald Trump.
Protests against the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal have crossed the political spectrum, thought it has been the left primarily responsible for bringing the issue to the public consciousness.
From mass protests in Germany to huge online petitions, TTIP was widely believed by those on the left and right to be a “corporate stitch-up” deal. The issue attracted the ire of UKIP’s Nigel Farage, Greenpeace, as well as the socialist worker’s parties across the continent. Now, according to the European Union (EU), it is basically dead.
Speaking on Friday, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström said it would make no sense to expect further talks on the issue, which had already stalled due to European demands over U.S. product standards and a demand for access to U.S. public sector contracts, otherwise protected by the Buy American Act.
Malmstöm, in what could be a harbinger for President-elect Trump’s attitude towards the EU, was forced to admit that EU officials are in the dark over the process. She said they “don’t really know what will happen,” and admitted TTIP “might not be the biggest priority” of the President-elect, according to Deustche Welle.
“There is strong reason to believe that there would be a pause in TTIP,” she said, attempting to cushion the blow.
And thus, with one fell swoop, President-elect Donald Trump should be the hero to millions of left-leaning, working-class people across the continent of Europe. If they were rational.
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