US NEGOTIATORS travel to Brussels tomorrow to try to revive talks on the world’s biggest-ever free trade deal which, after nearly two years, remains bogged down by public opposition.

The future of the US-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Pact (TTIP) is in doubt in the face of bitter opposition by activists.

“This is the dirtiest trade deal in Europe’s history,” a new video posted by the anti-TTIP group Corporate Europe warns.

Particularly controversial is a plan to let companies have legal disputes with governments heard by supranational tribunals, which campaigners say would undermine national sovereignty and favour the big corporations.

Four days of talks starting tomorrow will be the first since the new European Commission took office in November.

New trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem has been charged with the unenviable task of trying to salvage the talks.

“We are dealing mainly with regulation, more specifically, deregulation,” said European Trade Union Confederation senior adviser Tom Jenkins.

“People are quizzical to say the very least,” he warned.

The most contentious part of the deal is the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS), which allows firms to sue national governments through tribunals instead of national courts if they feel local laws such as health and safety regulations threaten their investments.

Opposition to ISDS became so intense that it was excluded from negotiations pending a public consultation.

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

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