France to Reject EU-US Trade Accord at Current Stage of TTIP Talks

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — France would oppose a proposed EU-US free trade pact at the current stage of negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, known by its acronyms TAFTA or TTIP, French President Francois Hollande said Tuesday.

"#TAFTA: 'We will never accept putting into question the essential principles. That's why, at this stage, France says no," Hollande was quoted as saying by the Elysee Palace on its Twitter account.

​Paris is not going to undermine the core principles France’s agriculture and culture are based on, Hollande explained.

On Sunday, Greenpeace said it had obtained 248 pages of classified TTIP documents representing around two-thirds of the draft free trade agreement between the European Union and the United States. The papers expose the leading role of corporate interests in the proposed deal, as well as policies posing a threat to the environment and public health.

The TTIP trade deal has faced sharp criticism for the secretive nature of its negotiations. The proposed treaty has sparked widespread concern that it might lower environmental, health, safety, and workers’ rights standards, as well as enabling the extra-judicial settlement of disputes in circumvention of national sovereignty.