PARIS: France on Tuesday took aim at a vast but controversial EU-US pact to create a free-trade zone covering 850 million people, with President Francois Hollande threatening to veto it as it stands.

Hollande warned that Paris would reject the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) “at this stage” because his country opposes “unregulated free trade.”

“Never would we accept the undermining of the essential principles of our agriculture, our culture, of mutual access to public markets,” Hollande told a left-wing political conference.

Earlier Tuesday, a top French trade official warned that the talks could grind to a halt because of Washington’s reluctance to make concessions.

“In view of the United States’s state of mind today, that seems to be the most likely option,” chief French trade negotiator Matthias Fekl told French radio when asked if the TTIP talks, which began in 2013, could stop.

Given France’s weight in the EU, “there cannot be an agreement without France, and much less against France,” said Fekl.

The French comments reflect deep suspicion in Europe that the deal will erode ecological and health regulations to the advantage of big business.

Washington and Brussels want the mega-deal completed this year before US President Barack Obama leaves office, but it has faced mounting opposition on both sides of the Atlantic.

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2016