Berlin The leader of the Greens, Katharina Dröge, has rejected new negotiations for a European-American free trade agreement. “There will be no new edition of TTIP,” Dröge told Handelsblatt. Neither the Americans nor the EU are currently making serious efforts to negotiate a comprehensive trade agreement. “And that’s a good thing,” said Dröge, who was considered the head of the TTIP opponents in the original negotiations.
Dröge also questions the ratification of the European-Canadian trade agreement, although the Federal Constitutional Court dismissed any lawsuits against Ceta last week. The traffic light had agreed to await the verdict. SPD and FDP now want to ratify. According to Dröge, however, the agreement only determines the time of the decision, which is “by no means a preliminary determination of its content”. Dröge said: “And nothing has changed in our Green attitude.” In its election program, the party had strictly rejected ratification of Ceta.
Read the whole interview here:
Ms. Dröge, Minister of Finance Christian Lindner has proposed a new edition of a European-American free trade agreement. A good idea?
There will be no new edition of TTIP. Neither the Americans nor the EU are currently making any serious efforts to negotiate a comprehensive trade agreement. And that’s just as well. An attempt to revive TTIP with all the problematic parts would lead to failure again.
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Indeed, the first attempt at such an agreement had failed miserably. But couldn’t it be different this time?
The TTIP negotiations failed at the time, and for good reason. In particular, the differences between European and American agricultural interests and access to the US procurement markets already existed during the Obama presidency and still exist today. US President Joe Biden has made it clear that “Buy American” is an important guiding principle for him. And on both sides of the Atlantic there is a desire not to lower standards.
Given the move away from Russia and possibly China too, don’t we need a new trade deal with the US?
There are many areas where it makes sense for the US and the EU to work more closely together. The newly created Trade and Technology Council is a good start to deepen transatlantic cooperation in a structured dialogue. Decisive questions are discussed there, such as possible cooperation in semiconductor production, common technological standards or in the field of green tech. A limited agreement to lower industrial tariffs would also be welcome. And a carbon border adjustment system will become stronger as more countries participate. Transatlantic cooperation in this area would be a great signal.
Do you feel overwhelmed by Mr. Lindner’s request?
In the coalition agreement, we agreed on how we want to deepen economic relations with the USA. We’ll definitely be able to agree on that.
The Greens politician doesn’t think much of a new version of TTIP, as proposed by the FDP leader.
(Photo: imago images/photothek)
The future of the agreement with Canada, which is only provisionally in force so far, is also unclear. However, the Federal Constitutional Court dismissed the most recent lawsuits against Ceta. Will you ratify it now?
In the coalition agreement, we agreed to first wait for the ruling of the constitutional court and then make a decision on how to deal with Ceta. This agreement only relates to the time of the decision, but is in no way a prior determination of its content. And nothing has changed in our Green attitude.
The verdict is here now. What are you waiting for ratification?
We Greens have always rejected Ceta in its present form for political reasons and not primarily because of legal concerns. In particular, the special rights of action for corporations provided for in the agreement, which only come into force after ratification by all parties, entail dangers for consumers and states. Karlsruhe also expressed skepticism about the democratic legitimacy of the committees and only allowed its doubts in this regard to stand due to the statements made in the minutes. So there are enough reasons to examine Ceta and the judgment now and then to decide. We’re not under any time pressure at all. The trade parts of the agreement are already in provisional application.
The traffic light only wants to conclude new trade agreements in combination with high environmental and social standards. Why?
In our view, trade policy has never been value-free. Such agreements must always be used to bring about positive change.
But can we still afford that in view of the Ukraine war? If China were to turn away, we would need even more comprehensive trade deals with many other countries.
Trade policy is the most powerful tool to ensure that countries do not decouple in the first place. However, trade agreements only fulfill this purpose if they are accompanied by high environmental and social standards. And the standards even strengthen the competitiveness of European companies. Competitors from other countries cannot simply import their goods into the EU, which they may have produced under much cheaper conditions that are more harmful to society or the climate.
World trade has been growing much more slowly than economic output for years. Aren’t we only fomenting new protectionism with the mantra of constantly having to impose new standards on trade policy?
The protectionist measures of recent years were adopted for completely different reasons. Heads of government like Donald Trump in the US have used trade as a weapon of foreign policy. What we want from trade policy has hardly been implemented so far: what we want to achieve with trade policy is to the advantage of all trading partners, not to discriminate.
Ms. Dröge, thank you very much for the interview.
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