EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström was at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where she met her US counterpart to discuss progress on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP. She told FRANCE 24's 24 Markus Karlsson that the European Union "wants to try to conclude this under the mandate of President Obama".
The TTIP, currently being negotiated between the EU and US, has raised concerns among European citizens. They fear, for instance, that health and safety standards will be watered down and that customer data protection will be put at risk. But Cecilia Malmström says the TTIP has the support of the European population. "Polls show that a majority of European citizens are in favour of TTIP but there are a lot of concerns and these need to be addressed", she told FRANCE 24.
In order to allay those fears, the EU has put most of the TTIP legal documents, negotiating texts, background documents and position papers online.
"We are not going to lower any standards when it comes to health, consumer protection; neither are the Americans", Malmström insists.
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