French President Francois Hollande said the U.S.-EU free-trade agreement under discussion for three years cannot be finalized before President Obama leaves office in January, said BBC News. Hollande was the latest in a series of European officials to question if negotiations can be completed; France’s trade minister said he would propose suspension of negotiations at an EU meeting next month.
In a speech to French diplomats, Hollande said negotiations have “bogged down, the positions have not been respected, the imbalance is obvious.” French and German officials said the United States was unwilling to compromise. EU and U.S. trade ministers said talks would continue.
Agriculture is an obstacle to a trans-Atlantic agreement. The United States wants the EU to remove barriers to GMO crops and meat produced with the use of growth hormones. Europe wants the United States to accepts its ownership of “geographic indicators” that tie food to a specific place of origin, meaning the end of U.S. products with names such as Parmesan cheese.