Europe's proposed free trade agreement with the United States would collapse if European leaders bowed to pressure to remove investment protection from any deal, the chairman of EU trade ministers said on Friday, Reuters reported. The United States and the European Union are trying to seal a free trade deal which could bring economic gains of around $100 billion dollars a year for each side. But progress has slowed partly due to stiff resistance from environmental groups and Germany to the trade pact's Investor-State Dispute Settlement Clause (ISDS), which allows companies to take cross-border legal action against governments. Critics have said that investment protection should be removed from the EU's negotiating mandate. -- SPA 20:45 LOCAL TIME 17:45 GMT تغريد
