Public support for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership has seen a little increase over the last six months, if one believes the latest Eurobarometer poll. Approval ratings for the TTIP had been falling steadily since 2014 in the European opinion survey that is done every May and November. …
Germany
Germany says provisional application of CETA to fall through if deal rejected by one state
Germany has given the green light to the signing of the Canada EU trade deal at a Council meeting today following a ruling by its constitutional court that rejected requests made by NGOs to issue an injunction to the German government to stop the CETA approval process. But Berlin wants CETA …
German constitutional court greenlights signature and provisional application of CETA
The powerful constitutional court of Germany has rejected a series of NGO requests to have it block the German government from greenlighting the signature of the Canada EU trade agreement CETA scheduled for next week (18 October 2016). It also refused to give an injunction to the German government to refuse provisional …
German Social Democrats greenlight CETA – ask for future revisions
Germany’s social-democratic party has endorsed the EU Canadian trade agreement CETA at a party convention on Monday (19 September). This move increases the chances that the treaty will be ratified by Germany, but does not give Brussels and Ottawa a blank cheque. The approval came after SPD …
Germany: how minority groups have come to dominate the public debate on TTIP
Origin of the graph: Matthias Bauer, ECIPE. Has Germany’s public debate on TTIP been hijacked by two minority political parties? At least some evidence is now emerging that the discussion on the transatlantic treaty has been distorted by a highly active network of ‘civil society’ groups gravitating around the …
Why Germany won’t likely reject CETA
CETA currently stands good chances of adoption in the expected forthcoming national ratification process in Germany. Germany’s political parties are preparing to grapple with the ratification of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement – CETA – with Canada. The junior coalition governing party SPD is bracing for a showdown on CETA as its leadership …
Comment: “TTIP failed”: is Sigmar Gabriel right?
The media is all abuzz about Sigmar Gabriel’s statement made during a conversation with the press over the week-end that “TTIP has failed”, not least because of US demands which the EU cannot accept. How credible is that statement? Is TTIP “dead”? No, Sigmar Gabriel is simply doing domestic politics, …
Study: Germans’ negative attitudes to TTIP related to EU-scepticism, not trade scepticism
The scale of the German population’s negative views of TTIP has surprised many. A recent survey by the Cologne-based economic think tank Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft has explored the following puzzle: Germans are as a general rules pro-free trade, but are sceptical of TTIP. How come? IW Köln’s economist Galina …
CETA: Commission caves in to member state political pressure, declares deal is ‘mixed’
The Commission’s intentions to declare CETA an EU-only agreement, loudly announced last week by President Jean-Claude Juncker, have backfired. Amidst a pushback from powerful member states, including France and Germany, the Commission has decided to declare CETA “mixed” and prioritised its coming into force provisionally as early as possible. …
Berlin consternation in face of CETA national parliament bypass push
EU Commission President Juncker weighed in: the Commission sees CETA, the trade deal with Canada, as falling under “exclusive” EU competence and thus not requiring ratification by national parliaments. This is causing consternation in Berlin, though there are differences in point of view between Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU party and …
