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Chief EU negotiator Ignacio Garcia-Bercero (R) and chief US negotiator Dan Mullaney shake hands after holding a press conference in Washington,DC on May 23, 2014 following a new round of talks on creating a transatlantic free trade zone/AFP

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EU, US look for ‘fresh start’ in trade talks

But the most contentious part of the deal may be the hardest to get rid of, given how keen the United States is to include rules for investor protection.

The Investor-State Dispute Settlement, or ISDS, allows firms to sue national governments through tribunals instead of national courts if they feel that local laws — such as health and safety regulations — violate the trade deal and threaten their investments.

The influential German government has blown hot and cold on the clause despite greenlighting the EU’s mandate to achieve it.

Opposition to ISDS became so intense that Malmstroem’s predecessor Karel De Gucht, in order to move the talks forward, excluded it from the US-EU negotiations pending the outcome of a public consultation.

The EU received almost 150,000 replies — an EU record — and almost all were negative.

“The consultation clearly shows that there is a huge scepticism against the ISDS instrument”, Malmstroem said.

Anti-TTIP protesters also handed in a petition signed by 1.1 million people.

To make matters worse, some in the EU question Washington’s true commitment to the deal, fearing it might be more interested in Asia.

“We have to ensure there is strong political commitment from both sides,” said Business Europe’s Santos.

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But US Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Victoria Nuland recently swiped away such talk, calling for a “transatlantic renaissance”.

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