Protest in Berlin against plans for major EU-US tr

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership involves the United States and the European Union.

There is a growing mistrust with the United States in Europe’s leading country amid the scandal over mass electronic surveillance of Germans’ communications and the escalating refugee crisis, which many see as a result of failed American policies in the Middle East. Critics in Germany oppose the accords for a number of reasons, including fears over genetically-modified foods, environmental standards, workers’ rights and pharmaceuticals. USA education firms on the European market such as Laureate Education, the Apollo Group, and the Kaplan Group could benefit as much as German media conglomerate Bertelsmann, which has recently bought a stake in US-based online education provider Udacity. There is also discontent with the secretive nature of the negotiations, which prompts skeptics to assume the worst about the document they would eventually produce.

Germany’s government has pushed the deal, saying it will boost the global economy.

“Together we are defending our democracy and taking to the streets for fair trade”, the organizers said.

Then there is the question of how to integrate Europe’s farm animal welfare standards into the world’s biggest trade deal which critics complain is being drawn up in secret.

Several trains and more than 600 buses had been chartered to transport protesters to the capital, who marched carrying signs that read “Stop TTIP” and “TTIP signals climatic shipwreck”.

And a particular bone of contention is the inclusion of so-called Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) – a mechanism which allows companies to bypass ordinary courts and go to an arbitration tribunal if a government violates their rights. “We have heard these promises before, these promises of jobs and prosperity and growth”, Larry Brown, a trade unionist from Canada – which is negotiating a similar trade deal with the European Union – shouted into a microphone on Saturday as demonstrators clapped and cheered and several police looked on.

Hoffmann demanded fair world trade and argued for the preservation of strong labor rights, as well as ecological and environmental standards.