Official: EU trade negotiations to go on despite Brexit

WASHINGTON (AP) - A top European Union official says negotiations on a major free trade deal between the United States and the EU will continue despite Britain's vote to leave the 28-member bloc.

EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom says at a think tank event in Washington that until Britain formally begins a process of withdrawing from the bloc, negotiations will proceed on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership on behalf of all its current members.

But an influential labor leader says he is skeptical about the Transatlantic Trade deal. The president of the AFL-CIO, Richard Trumka, says the agreement aims to lower standards, not improve them. Trumka also criticized the secrecy surrounding the negotiations.

Civic groups have sharply criticized the Transatlantic Trade deal, saying it erodes many safety, health and environment protection measures.