German cities are the site of rallies against transatlantic trade deals
critics say would increase corporate power at the expense of
governments. TTIP and CETA trade pacts are losing traction amidst public
skepticism.
Seven major German cities are the site of Saturday rallies by groups
seeking to head off Europe's plans to sign new far-reaching trade deals
with both the United States and Canada.
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) would create a free trade zone between the US and European Union that would lower tariffs to boost trade but also potentially undercut national environmental standards, worker protection and other regulations.
A controversial provision would create special tribunals to hear cases by corporations against governments over lost profits, which critics say would give private companies a potential veto over public policy created to protect workers and the environment.
Columnist Daniel Eckert, writing in the conservative German newspaper Die Welt, said trade deals would benefit the global economy.
"A further lowering of tariff barriers, the dismantling of bureaucracy and international standardization are rather cost-effective methods to create greater wealth that future generations can benefit from," he wrote.
A similar trade pact with Canada, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), is slated to be signed next month.
But growing public skepticism has made the trade pacts a tough sell for pro-business national leaders on both side of the Atlantic. A Friday poll by the Paris-based Ipsos Institute shows about 28 percent of Germans had doubts about the trade pacts' advantages. And 52 percent believe the agreements would weaken standards and result in the import of defective products, according to the same survey.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said high unemployment in much of Europe makes free trade agreements necessary to keep the economy running. But Peter Gauweiler, who quit Merkel's CDU post to protest the chancellor's economic policy, has called these same treaties "a danger for democracy."
Organizers of the "Stop TTIP & CETA - for a fair world trade" protests are hoping more than 250,000 people will turn out for the demonstrations in Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Leipzig and Munich.
"We hope that more than 250,000 participants will join in the march nationwide," Roland Süss of the anti-globalization group Attac, one of the organizers of the demonstrations.
Trade officials in Brussels and Washington say they
want to complete the negotiations for the TTIP before US President Barack Obama leaves office in January next year.
Source: http://www.dw.com/en/germans-stage-anti-ttip-ceta-rallies/a-19558588
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) would create a free trade zone between the US and European Union that would lower tariffs to boost trade but also potentially undercut national environmental standards, worker protection and other regulations.
A controversial provision would create special tribunals to hear cases by corporations against governments over lost profits, which critics say would give private companies a potential veto over public policy created to protect workers and the environment.
Columnist Daniel Eckert, writing in the conservative German newspaper Die Welt, said trade deals would benefit the global economy.
"A further lowering of tariff barriers, the dismantling of bureaucracy and international standardization are rather cost-effective methods to create greater wealth that future generations can benefit from," he wrote.
A similar trade pact with Canada, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), is slated to be signed next month.
But growing public skepticism has made the trade pacts a tough sell for pro-business national leaders on both side of the Atlantic. A Friday poll by the Paris-based Ipsos Institute shows about 28 percent of Germans had doubts about the trade pacts' advantages. And 52 percent believe the agreements would weaken standards and result in the import of defective products, according to the same survey.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said high unemployment in much of Europe makes free trade agreements necessary to keep the economy running. But Peter Gauweiler, who quit Merkel's CDU post to protest the chancellor's economic policy, has called these same treaties "a danger for democracy."
Organizers of the "Stop TTIP & CETA - for a fair world trade" protests are hoping more than 250,000 people will turn out for the demonstrations in Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Leipzig and Munich.
"We hope that more than 250,000 participants will join in the march nationwide," Roland Süss of the anti-globalization group Attac, one of the organizers of the demonstrations.
Watch video
02:10
Mass Protests Against CETA and TTIP
Source: http://www.dw.com/en/germans-stage-anti-ttip-ceta-rallies/a-19558588