Fekle has announced that he will make the request at the end of September at the meeting of the European Union’s foreign trade officials in Bratislava. In the current political climate, the Secretary considers it absolutely inappropriate for the EU and US representatives to continue negotiating the TTIP.

The European Commission, for its part, has said that the TTIP negotiations are proceeding normally and that the intention is to have the agreement ready before the end of the year. This was the response of the spokesperson Margaritis Schinas at a press conference in Brussels, when he was asked about the statements made by the German Minister of Economy, Sigmar Gabriel, on the TTIP. Gabriel said that the negotiations are de facto exhausted, adding that in the fourteen rounds held so far no agreement has been reached, the main reason being that “Europeans do not want to obey the wishes of the Americans.”

Distrustful of the real intentions of Germany and France

Some groups campaigning against free trade agreements believe that both the statements of the German minister and the French position expressed by Matthias Fekl’s mouth can be a ploy. In both states there will be elections next year, and the authorities know that the opinion against TTIP has gained a lot of strength in their territories.

On the other hand, the ratification process of the CETA agreement already agreed between the European Union and Canada will soon be launched, and the aim of the statements made by the French and German governments against the TTIP could be ignored, according to these sources. It is stressed that the entry into force of the CETA would be essentially equivalent to the entry into force of the TTIP.