US and the EU start 8th round of free trade negotiations

EFE

The European Union (EU) and the United States began on Monday the eighth round of negotiations on a free trade and investment agreement (TTIP), which will run until Friday.

The EU chief negotiator Ignacio Garcia Bercero, and the American Dan Mullaney, began with a symbolic handshake before the media for a week of work in the Belgian capital.

“Generally, free trade agreements are negotiated behind closed doors. With the TTIP is the first time there is a fissure in the door,” said Tom Jenkins of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).

This eighth round to create the a largest free trade zone in the world (it would mean 50% of global economic activity) is the first to be held under the new European Commission (EC), led by Jean-Claude Juncker.

“It’s the first round of negotiations since a ‘new beginning’ was decided. I’m curious to see how things evolve,” told to AFP Luisa Santos of Business Europe, an influential group of pressure favorable on an agreement with the US.