Secrecy of TTIP Talks Scares Europeans, Parliamentarians – Austrian MEP

The secrecy of negotiations on the proposed EU-US free trade deal scares not only members of the European Parliament, but also ordinary Europeans, who are kept in the dark as the talks proceed, a member of the European Parliament for the Austrian Freedom Party told Sputnik.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Daria Chernyshova — The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal aimed to enable the free flow of goods across the Atlantic, has sparked controversy among the European public over fears of its potential adverse effects.

“I would say that the TTIP [the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership] negotiations, are not loved not only by us, our group, they are not loved all over Austria, or in Germany,” said Franz Obermayr, who is now a member of the newly established Eurosceptic group in the European Parliament called Europe of Nations and Freedom.

The lawmaker, who also is a member of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade, explained that people in Europe fear that the TTIP talks were “secret negotiations without public information,” so it was not clear whether the deal would hurt or benefit Europe.

“We feel ourselves as a voice of the people who are scared in Europe,” Obermayr said.

International Trade Committee of the European Parliament will decide whether proposed amendments to the controversial EU-US free trade deal should be voted on by lawmakers on June 29.