Council refuses to allow transparency on TTIP negotiations

16 May 2014

With public resistance continuing to grow, the EU Member States decided to refuse publication of the mandate that was given to the European Commission to negotiate the EU-US trade agreement.

A few hours after the arrest of hundreds of environmental campaigners in Brussels during a protest against the free trade agreement with the USA (TTIP) and with public resistance continuing to grow, the EU Member States decided the same day to refuse publication of the mandate that was given to the European Commission to negotiate this agreement.

Commenting on the decision, Yannick Jadot, MEP of the Greens/EFA group and group spokesperson on the TTIP, stated: "While citizens are becoming increasingly aware of the issues at stake and the dangers of the TTIP, the Member States and the European Commission are further locking their negotiations in secrecy and opacity. This is a very telling sign of how the choices we make as a society are being elaborated both without and against citizens’ interests. This is the worst possible signal the EU could give out in its commitment to European democracy!"

Press statement

© Greens/EFA