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Brussels - A petition opposing the mammoth free trade deal being negotiated between the European Union and the United States has collected more than 3 million signatures, organisers announced Wednesday.
If approved, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) would create the world's largest free trade zone and could help revive the EU's flagging economy, its proponents argue.
But the deal has been bogged down by concerns that it could water down standards and allow corporations to evade national laws. Similar criticism has also been levelled at CETA, a separate transatlantic trade deal that has been concluded with Canada.
The Stop TTIP campaign group staged a demonstration in front of the European Commission in Brussels on Wednesday after collecting almost 3.24 million signatures.
The commission - the EU's executive - had previously dismissed a European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) against TTIP, arguing that it did not meet the required legal criteria.
The ECI framework was introduced to give citizens a greater say in European lawmaking, but the commission rejected the TTIP initiative, saying that it falls outside of its powers.
"More than 500 organisations across Europe are behind Stop TTIP," campaigner Susan George said Wednesday. "This huge success clearly shows how strong the resistance against TTIP and CETA is in all of Europe."
Thousands of people are expected to demonstrate in EU capitals for a European day of action against TTIP on Saturday.
TTIP negotiations began in June 2013, but progress has been slower than expected. The 11th round of talks is due to take place later this month in Miami, Florida.
Efforts to conclude the deal could be further hampered by a recent scandal that emerged in the US over devices fitted to Volkswagen cars to rig emissions tests, as well as an EU court ruling this week that struck down a scheme allowing EU and US firms to share data.
