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Public support for TTIP drops sharply in Germany, U.S.: survey

Xinhua, April 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

German and U.S. citizens are increasingly skeptical about a free trade agreement under negotiations between the European Union and the United States, a survey found on Thursday, with public support for the pact in both countries dropping sharply in recent years.

Only one in five Germans believes the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a good thing, according to a survey conducted by market research firm YouGov for Germany's Bertelsmann Foundation.

One in three Germans rejected the agreement completely.

In the United States, only 15 percent of people support it, the survey found.

In 2014, shortly after the negotiations started between Brussels and Washington, 55 percent of Germans were in favor of the agreement, while 53 percent of the U.S. public supported it.

Bertelsmann Foundation said Germans' negative attitude toward the TTIP can be explained primarily by the fear of lower standards for products, consumer protection and the labor market.

Secrecy of negotiations over the agreement is also a problem with some 30 percent of Germans and 46 percent of U.S. citizens not feeling sufficiently informed about the TTIP.

The survey result was released ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Germany on Sunday. One aim of his visit is to push forward the negotiations over TTIP which started in July 2013 and triggered repeated protests in Europe.

Officials from both sides of the Atlantic wish to conclude the negotiations by the end of this year. But analysts said the talks are unlikely to make real headway under the Obama administration which ends in January 2017. Enditem