Germany not a fan of US bilateral deals idea

Germany is rejecting U.S. suggestions that bilateral deals might be possible between the U.S. and European Union members.

German Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer told reporters in Berlin on Friday that the EU "has a common trade policy that is implemented by the European Commission."

He says in the last 50 years the EU has "done very well as an increasingly big and powerful economic bloc by agreeing trade deals for the (entire) union and for individual member states."

He also says it could be a "thorn in the side" of the U.S. government that the EU is "probably a stronger and more powerful trade bloc than the United States of America or NAFTA." Schaefer says the EU has no reason for "be sad about this, it's what makes us strong."