2016-05-02theguardian.com

Talks for a free trade deal between Europe and the US face a serious impasse with "irreconcilable" differences in some areas, according to leaked negotiating texts. The two sides are also at odds over US demands that would require the EU to break promises it has made on environmental protection.

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The public document offers a robust defence of the EU's right to regulate and create a court-like system for disputes, unlike the internal note, which does not mention them.

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US proposals include an obligation on the EU to inform its industries of any planned regulations in advance, and to allow them the same input into EU regulatory processes as European firms.

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US proposals include an obligation on the EU to inform its industries of any planned regulations in advance, and to allow them the same input into EU regulatory processes as European firms... "Before the EU could even pass a regulation, it would have to go through a gruelling impact assessment process in which the bloc would have to show interested US parties that no voluntary measures, or less exacting regulatory ones, were possible," Riss said.

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GM foods could also find a widening window into Europe, with the US pushing for a working group to adopt a "low level presence initiative". This would allow the import of cargo containing traces of unauthorised GM strains. The EU currently blocks these because of food safety and cross-pollination concerns.



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