Free trade talks with US: EU reaches terms with France

LUXEMBOURG: European Union (EU) trade ministers finally thrashed out a deal Friday on how to negotiate for a free trade deal with the United States (US), after meeting a French demand to exclude the key audiovisual sector. Officials said the ministers would leave the audiovisual sector out of the mandate for initial talks over what would be the world’s biggest free trade deal, as Paris had insisted. But the European Commission would still have the right to raise “any issue” during the negotiations if it saw fit. A successful deal would create the world’s largest Free Trade Agreement. The EU says it would add some €119 billion annually to the EU economy, and €95 billion for the US. But France jealously guards it cultural sector and has demanded protection for its cinema and television industry in the face of Hollywood’s dominance.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 16^th, 2013.

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