Tens of thousands protest EU-US free trade deal in Germany

According to activists, 250,000 people turned out for the event, while Berlin police claimed the number was closer to their initial expectation of 100,000.

Around 150,000 people protested Saturday in Berlin over a planned free-trade agreement between the European Union and the US, warning that it will lower food, environmental and social standards in Europe.

They marched through downtown Berlin, banging drums, clutching flags and posters and chanting slogans.

Opposition to the so-called Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) has risen over the past year in Germany, with critics fearing the pact would hand too much power to big multinationals at the expense of consumers and workers.

Several political and union leaders were to address the rally later in the day.

“We have the chance to set new and good standards for growing global trade”.

Hoffmann demanded fair world trade and argued for the preservation of strong labor rights, as well as ecological and environmental standards. “This must be our aim”, Gabriel wrote.

Businesses hope the trade deal will deliver over 88 billion euros of economic gains on both sides of the Atlantic.

The rally’s organizers warned that negotiations on both deals were to go into the end phase this fall, after German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Europeans to speed up the talks on EU trading arrangements at last June’s G7 summit.

“Never before have we seen so many people take to the streets for this issue”, the German trade union confederation, the DGB, which helped organise the protest, said.

Opponents say the deal will limit national sovereignty and countries’ ability to hold corporations to account while supporters say it will reduce export costs, will boost growth and employment. Once completed, it will create the largest free trade zone, covering almost half of world’s gross domestic product (GDP).