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Leaked copies of the confidential negotiation documents on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) obtained by the German media, reveal that the US is putting significantly more intense, far-reaching pressure on the European Union than previously thought in order to get access to the European market.
According to the documents, Washington is threatening to prevent the easing of exports for the European car industry in order to force Europe to buy more US agricultural products.
The secret papers, consisting of 240 pages, have been obtained by Greenpeace and later provided to the German Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper and the German radio and television stations WDR and NDR.
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The EU’s principle that goods must first be certified as safe has often been cited by the EU to constrain imports of American gene-manipulated and hormone-treated produce.
Hence by blocking an easing of car exports into the US, Washington wanted the EU to replace its precautionary consumer safety principle by the liberal US approach of permitting foodstuffs until risks are proven, the media outlet suggests.
The German outlets said the documents disclosed by Greenpeace also showed that the US was blocking an EU demand that arbitration panels to handle corporate lawsuits be public not private as sought by Washington.
Read full, original post: Pressured Partnership: Leaked TTIP Papers Reveal US Drive to Get EU Markets
