"The free trade agreement that is being negotiated between the EU and the US is an exceptionally important agreement that would contribute to the recovery of the European and American economies." This is the conclusion of the Croatian Parliament after an April 24 discussion on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

Deputy Foreign Minister Josko Klisovic highlighted that the TTIP was an exceptionally important agreement that would contribute to the recovery of the economies on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as open new export and investment opportunities for Croatia.

At the same time, civil society organizations, which draw attention to the need to open the negotiation process to the public and discuss possible negative consequences of the treaty (such as that the agreement would be beneficial only for multinational corporations), were accused of spreading paranoia.

Chlorinated chicken

The agreement has indeed been met with considerable criticism, including that it will enable international corporations to strengthen their influence to the detriment of states, lead to the lowering of European workers' rights standards, erode environmental protections and food safety, and flood the European markets with American genetically modified organism (GMO) products and chlorinated chicken.

But Minister Klisovic does not believe that these things will happen, saying, "Neither party will outwit the other. They both want good results for their economies and citizens."

Instead, he said that the TTIP would facilitate easier access to the US market, which is particularly significant to small and medium-sized enterprises as the foundation of the economy, and added that the current regulatory chaos, doubling of quality control issues and certification requirements have been major obstacles to doing business and significantly increase costs.

Croatia's trade with the US amounted to 414 million euros in 2013.