President Obama said that the first round of negotiations would begin in Washington next month between the United States and the 27-nation Europe Union. “The U.S.-E.U. relationship is the largest in the world — it makes up almost half of global G.D.P.,” Mr. Obama said, referring to gross domestic product. “This potentially groundbreaking partnership would deepen those ties.”
But France’s president, François Hollande, expressed disbelief at comments made over the weekend by the European Commission president, José Manuel Barroso. In an interview with The International Herald Tribune/New York Times, Mr. Barroso had criticized as “reactionary” France’s insistence on protecting its film and television industries as a condition of supporting the trade negotiations.
“I do not want to believe that the president of the European Commission could have made the statements about France, or even about the artists, that were made,” said Mr. Hollande, according to the Web sites of several French news organizations.
Mr. Hollande did not appear in a media tent here at the Lough Erne Resort when President Obama and Mr. Barroso — along with Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, and David Cameron, the British prime minister — announced the timing of the trade talks. French reporters said Mr. Hollande was busy preparing for his meeting later with the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin.
Aside from trade, the two-day Group of 8 meeting was likely to be dominated by the crisis in Syria. Other financial issues on the agenda were measures to clamp down on tax evasion and the legal ruses used by multinational companies to limit their tax liabilities.
Mr. Cameron, the summit host, was by far the most effusive among the leaders who spoke about their trade ambitions. “We’re talking about what could be the biggest bilateral trade deal in history, a deal that would have a greater impact than all the other trade deals on the table put together,” he said.
A European Union-United States trade pact has been a longstanding ambition of policy makers. According to the European Commission, the executive arm of the 27-nation bloc, such a deal would allow European companies to sell an additional 187 billion euros worth of goods and services a year to the United States.
The angry French response highlights the sensitivity of the negotiations, which will aim to reduce trans-Atlantic tariffs and streamline regulations to stimulate economic growth in the United States and Europe.
On Friday, after a campaign by French artists and politicians, European Union trade ministers agreed to accede to France’s demands to protect the audiovisual sector. In his interview earlier that day, Mr. Barroso had said France’s Socialist government was advocating an “anti-globalization agenda” that was “completely reactionary.”
Mr. Barroso’s comments were described as “scandalous and dangerous” in a statement Monday from the French Socialist Party.
In addressing reporters on Monday, Mr. Barroso took no questions and did not comment on the French backlash.
Speaking in Brussels, Olivier Bailly, a spokesman for European Commission, said that Mr. Barroso’s comments had referred not to the French government but to those who had “made personal attacks” against him in the run-up to the negotiations. Mr. Bailly did not identify those concerned.
In response to the French objections, some Europeans worry that the United States will seek to exclude financial services from the talks, thereby reducing their scope significantly.
Mr. Obama acknowledged those concerns. “There are going to be sensitivities on both sides,” he said. “There are going to be politics on both sides. But if we can look beyond the narrow concerns to stay focused on the big picture — the economic and strategic importance of this partnership — I’m hopeful we can achieve the kind of high-standard, comprehensive agreement that the global trading system is looking to us to develop.”
Officials said Mr. Cameron had sought to make the Group of 8 an intimate meeting, with leaders seated around a locally produced wooden table in a room with a series of paintings inspired by the local countryside.
The setting, in a remote part of Northern Ireland, posed acute logistical problems for organizers but also for those aiming to demonstrate against an event, conducted amid tight security. Several thousand people were expected to join a march on Monday, but officials said numbers were likely to be lower than initially predicted.
“If you think it was difficult for you to get here, just imagine how hard it is for protesters,” said one official not authorized to speak publicly.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: June 17, 2013
Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this article stated incorrectly the timing of an interview with José Manuel Barroso. The interview was on Friday before trade ministers agreed to accede to France’s demands to protect the audiovisual sector, not after the agreement.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/18/business/global/us-europe-trade-talks-to-start-in-july.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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