EU-US trade talks cancelled

Negotiations between the EU and the US on Trade and Investment Partnership, planned to be held in Brussels next week, has been cancelled due to the US administration's meltdown. EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht in a statement said the US Trade Representative Michael Froman telephoned him on Friday and informed him that due to the on-going meltdown, the US Administration will not be able to send government officials to Brussels next week to maintain the planned second round of negotiations in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). "All negotiation sessions planned for next week (October 7-11 2013) in Brussels are therefore cancelled. The US side has promised to provide us with further information as soon as is afeasible on when and how further occasions for engagement - including negotiation rounds - can be scheduled," he noted. De Gucht added that the cancellation "is clearly unfortunate but let me underline that it in no way distracts us from our overall aim of achieving an ambitious trade and investment deal between Europe and the US."