“For the moment he has taken the decision to leave the Trans-Pacific [Partnership], and we have to see how this administration develops. The TTIP was not even signed, it was being discussed,” Palacio said on Thursday. “It stalled well before the American elections, and before President [Donald] Trump was elected.”
The former Foreign Minister added that the negotiations should be more specific in order for the public to understand what is happening.
“What they think is that probably we are in a different era. In this era we have to go from very concrete and targeted, because we need to make sure that people understand what they are doing,” she explained. “You know, these very abstract macro negotiations, we need to translate them into concrete issues that just affect the life of the people.”
The TTIP, negotiations of which have been ongoing since 2013, seeks to establish a free trade zone between the two sides of the Atlantic. Since the start of the talks, the deal has drawn severe criticism for the lack of transparency. Its opponents also express concern over the tremendous power it would potentially give to international corporations and the fact that it could seriously violate ecological standards.