“What France is asking for is a pure, simple and definitive end to these negotiations,” Fekl told RMC radio this Tuesday. He said Paris would formally register its position at the next meeting of EU trade ministers in Bratislava on 22 September.

While he acknowledged that the European Commission could technically continue the talks with the US, Fekl said: “There is no longer any French political support for these negotiations.”

This statement follows Sunday’s comment by German vice chancellor Simgar Gabriel that TTIP talks “have failed”.

On Monday, the European Commission vowed to keep negotiating with the US with a view to clinching a trade deal by the end of this year, on the basis that it had received the continued backing of member states’ leaders at their latest summit in June. This is no longer the case with France withdrawing support.

The Americans give nothing, or merely crumbs

“We need to set the best possible rules on food, energy, health, public services and culture – this is not the direction these negotiations have taken and they must therefore end now,” Fekl said, adding that they were “opaque”.

He blamed the US for TTIP’s failure, saying “the Americans give nothing, or merely crumbs”.

However, the French minister called for the implementation of the recently signed EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). While Fekl insisted that CETA and TTIP were different, some European critics of transatlantic trade negotiations have opposed the Canadian deal as well as TTIP because of concerns over equivalence of standards and unfair competition.

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