MEPs voiced their anger on Wednesday after a European Parliament vote on the controversial free trade deal between the EU and the US, known as TTIP, was delayed at the last minute.

European Parliament president Martin Schulz said he had been forced to move the planned resolution on the trade pact because more than 200 amendments had been tabled by lawmakers.

“I decided to postpone the vote on the TTIP resolution to give more time to the International Trade Committee to further reflect on the outstanding issues and to reduce as much as possible the large number of amendments tabled,” said Schulz in a statement on Wednesday.

“The European Parliament needs to contribute with a clear and unequivocal position. What we should have is a strong text by the European Parliament and what we should avoid is that Parliament adopts a resolution which is neither here or there, or, even worse, is not able to adopt a resolution.”

His move followed negotiations on Tuesday with party group leade