Abstract
After a start marked by great optimism on both sides of the Atlantic, negotiations for a Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership ended in 2016 after the German government decided to withdraw. Soon after, France followed suit. This was unexpected. The EU favoured the Partnership, and so did the German and French governments. Most expected French opposition to free trade to cause problems and Germany to welcome TTIP. As shown here, the opposite happened. The explanation is partly how the governments framed the Partnership: in France as an instrument ensuring influence over international trade, in Germany as a purely commercial arrangement. Parliaments in the two countries approached TTIP differently: the Assemblee nationale made its own analyses and arranged hearings often attended by the government; the Bundestag remained passive and contacts with the government on TTIP were limited. Despite the fact that the German assembly is vested with far stronger formal powers than the French, they were not used. Attempts are made to explain the passivity displayed by German MPs.
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