Transatlantic Trade Research Articles

TTIP: contentious market regulation

Based on the extensive literature in the area of historical institutionalism and regulation, this article embarks on the discussion about the concept of contentious market regulation and argues that the negotiations for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) are emblematic of a new generation of trade liberalization. Since the negotiations started, however, the TTIP has faced the main challenge has been how to bridge the gap between the initial consensus for boosting transatlantic economic growth through trade and the increasing contestation conveyed by several actors during the negotiation process. The article finds four main factors defining the interaction between the array of players involved in the TTIP negotiation process. First, the resilience of negotiators and regulators to efficiently advance the transatlantic agenda by adapting to new demands (investment court), finding alternatives to internal resistances (federal means of liberalizing public procurement), and continuing working on technical regulations for improving market competition in the transatlantic area (automotive sector). Second, the disagreements and polarizations within the legislative bodies as well as the public opinion and social movements on both side of the Atlantic, undermining the legitimacy of the negotiation process. Third, the increasing hesitation from decision-makers to continue the TTIP negotiations, potentially eroding the effectiveness of negotiators to reached an agreement. Fourth, the more interconnected trend among preferential trade talks.

CAN TURKISH AND US CO-OPERATION IN THE BLACK SEA REGION INCREASE EFFICIENCY GAINS?

This paper examines the impact of co-operation between Turkey and the US upon Turkish trade and investments towards the Black Sea region. The study is particularly important in the conjuncture of the US withdrawal from the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and in the wake of signing a free trade agreement with the EU. An additional matter of importance relates to the improved Turkey – Russia economic collaboration especially after the “jet” incident and American involvement with the Middle East. Significant part of the latter is economic as the US has also explicit economic interests in the Eastern Meditteranean. A gravity model has been employed using ordinary least squares on a panel data with fixed effects to analyse aggregate trade. We have also categorized export groups of Turkey and the US separately. Our findings for both Turkish and the US exports indicate that per-capita GDP of Black Sea countries are highly persistent and positively correlated with increased efficiency gains and trade volumes. Regression results show that the US exports to the EU member countries are on average less than to those non-EU member Black Sea countries. Hence, we question whether a possible co-operation between the US and Turkish companies can help gaining better access to the Black Sea market for their exports.

Prospects to interface the silk road economic belt and the Eurasian Economic Union projects

The task is posed to study the One Belt One Road initiative, proposed by China in 2013 and based on original Chinese documents; materials of various conferences held in China and abroad; and works by Chinese, Russian, and Western scholars. This project is primarily economic and is targeted at accelerating China’s socioeconomic development under new challenges in the global arena. These challenges include the reduction of export possibilities in the traditional markets of the United States, the European Union, and East Asia as a result of decreased global economic growth rates and the attempt of the United States to weaken China’s political and economic positions by creating two new structures—the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. A paper on this topic was presented by A.V. Ostrovskii at a session of the RAS Presidium in April 2017.

Tackling the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership/Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement: my path from micro to macro/strategic social work

Tackling the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership/Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement: my path from micro to macro/strategic social work

EU citizen participation, openness and the European Citizens Initiative: The TTIP legacy

This paper analyses the European Citizens Initiative, consultation, and transparency in the context of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations, to assess what it tells us about EU citizen participation and the principle of openness. It focuses on the institutional mediation of citizen participation and the degree to which the Commission facilitates such participation and accepts citizen influence over policy-making in EU external affairs. Three categories of openness are used in the analysis: institutional transparency with little or no participation; a democratically weak institutional approach as a means to improve the effectiveness of governance and support existing policy; and thirdly an institutional acceptance of effective citizen participation that facilitates citizen influence over agenda-setting. It is argued that the Commission has made some progress during TTIP in terms of transparency, but that the Commission does not take a strongly democratic position on citizen participation in external affairs. It only engages with citizens as passive actors who can support the effectiveness of EU governance.

Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership: an opportunity or a threat to the EU textile and apparel industry?

This study quantitatively evaluated how tariff elimination and reduction of non-tariff barriers under the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) could affect the textile and apparel (T&A) industry in the European Union (EU). Based on the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model, the study finds that: first, T-TIP’s trade creation effect will expand the EU-U.S. intra-industry trade for textiles. Meanwhile, T-TIP will significantly expand EU’s apparel exports to the United States. Second, trade T-TIP’s trade diversion effect will affect T&A exports from non-member suppliers to the T-TIP region negatively, including Asia’s T&A exports to the U.S. and EU and Turkey’s T&A exports to the EU. Third, T-TIP will affect the intra-region T&A trade in the EU region negatively but in a limited way. Findings of this study augment our understanding of the T&A-specific sectoral impact of T-TIP and provide valuable inputs supporting the T-TIP negotiation.

La relevancia de la agenda de desarrollo en la negociación del tratado de libre comercio entre Estados Unidos y la Unión Europea

El pasado mes de septiembre de 2015 la totalidad de los Estados de la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas han aprobado los nuevos Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) y una nueva Agenda de desarrollo —también llamada Agenda 2030—. Los ODS pretenden ser metas ambiciosos que incidan en las causas de la pobreza a nivel mundial y que, al mismo tiempo, se dirijan a construir sociedades más igualitarias y productivas en un plazo de quince años. Por otro lado, las negociaciones entre los Estados Unidos y la Unión Europea para el acuerdo de Asociación Transatlántica para el Comercio y la Inversión (TTIP) pretenden crear la mayor relación económica y comercial a nivel mundial. El objetivo de este artículo es el de analizar en qué medida la firma del TTIP contribuirá a conseguir satisfactoriamente los ODS y si se está teniendo en cuenta la nueva agenda de desarrollo en las negociaciones de este importante tratado entre los Estados Unidos y la Unión Europea.

Indian Model Bit 2015: An Alternate Approach to Investment Treaty Drafting

The India Model BIT 2015 was released by the Govt. of India on 28th December 2015. It was unveiled as a draft for all future Bilateral Investment Treaties and for the renewal of existing BIT’s. It was a bold attempt on the part of India as for the first time a capital receiving/ host state has made a draft to protect the interest of its citizens and sustainable use of its resources. Through the course of the article some of the innovative features of this Model BIT have been discussed and compared with the new drafts of multilateral treaties which have been written in the western nations such as the Draft Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, the Trans Pacific Partnership and the EU-Canada CETA.

Power in international trade politics: is ISDS a solution in search of a problem?

AbstractThis article examines the controversial investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms in recent mega-free trade agreement. Below, I examine the origins of the ISDS concept and outline the controversy surrounding its use in the context of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Then, I provide a theoretical discussion that outlines both the exogenous and endogenous factors that contribute to the inclusion of ISDS provisions in international trade agreements. Focusing on the latter endogenous factors, I then argue that not all international trade agreements are the same and that, as such, it is possible to develop a typology of international trade agreement across two variables (the number of parties and relative power) that impact the appropriateness of including an ISDS provision. I test this typology against the empirical record. Finally, I discuss potential innovations to the ISDS provisions and market-based mechanisms that address the dual challenges of discrimination and expropriation that ISDS is designed to address.1

The Transatlantic Partnership Agreement: an American perspective

AbstractThis paper discusses the internal dynamics of American trade policy making in the context of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations. The author describes the active role interest groups, the U.S. business community, and representatives on both sides of the political spectrum have played in the passing of Transatlantic Partnership Agreement (TPA), the TPP negotiations, and currently the TTIP debate. Lastly, the author lays out the challenges TTIP will continue to face in light of opposition to specific TPP provisions, trans-atlantic disagreement over ISDS and data flows, and the recent presidential elections.

Regulatory or expropriatory? On the implications of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership for the German land policy

The European Commission hopes that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will result in increasing wealth, more competitiveness and hundreds of thousands of new jobs. There are also plans to harmonize standards and to introduce or monitor new regulations and norms – beside and above national legislation – that go beyond the existing member state legal framework and are to be safeguarded by means of regulatory collaboration and legal supervision. To the extent observable after the 15th round of negotiations between the European Commission and the US administration, the debate on the TTIP has not yet reached planning law, construction law or procurement law in practice. However, the chapter on “investment” of the TTIP-draft is of paramount importance for the land policies in the member states. Land as immovable properties is mentioned explicitly as an investment asset covered by TTIP. Land policy is the “blind spot” in investment protection agreements. This paper analyses the undergoing dynamics for the comprehensive land policy structure in Germany and its capital Berlin. Berlin plays a leading role in the current discourse of the realignment of land policy and the renaissance of public affordable housing policies. The purpose test of TTIP − according to the hierarchy of norms from the constitutional and national sphere down to the municipal level – will comprise of the criteria fairness, legitimacy, the balancing of investors’ expectations (and potentially their claims), and states’ regulatory measures. My paper explains why the standards and provisions of TTIP potentially conflict with the constitutionally guaranteed locally self-government in land policy as community institution(s) and the efficiency of urban planning. The democratic legitimacy of TTIP remains to be verified since the controversial relation and distinction between lawful regulation, the fair and equitable treatment standard, and indirect expropriation under the “TTIP-regime” lack substantial empirical evidence.

Regulacja prawna żywności genetycznie zmodyfikowanej w USA i UE w kontekście planowanego Transatlantyckiego Porozumienia Handlowo-Inwestycyjnego (TTIP)

The process of globalization in the production and distribution of food, ongoing for many years, causes a number of problems. Agreement on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), negotiated since 2013 by the US and the EU, is one of the instruments to manage of globalization process. The Agreement is aimed at liberalization of trade of goods and services. This article presents the US and the EU regulation on genetically modified food and assessment of the consequences of TTIP Agreement for the regulation of GM food in the EU. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the approach to genetically modified food in the legal regulations of the EU and the US vary significantly. In the US, it was assumed that GM food is not different from conventional food and, consequently, the consumer does not need to be informed on GM food contents. In opposition to the US approach the EU law separately regulates GM food and gives the consumer the ability to make choice of food which differs only by the usage of genetic engineering. Authors conclude, that the signing of TTIP and the full opening of the EU market for food from the US may result in loss of supervision over genetically modified food by EU public authorities as well as the collapse of the EU model of consumer protection based on the precautionary principle.

Social Debate on Free Trade Agreements: Illusions Versus Reality

(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.)IntroductionNowadays the Free Trade Agreements (FTA-s) have been causing lots of controversies. New wave of populism, alter-globalism, and protectionism seem to be quite influential for the public discussion devoted to perspectives of implementing Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). For instance, the published report (Bertelsmann Foundation, 2016) shows that there are important differences between Germans and Americans in their attitudes to trade. Only 56% of the German respondents believe increased trade relations with other countries to be something good (27% of the respondents are of the opposite opinion), while in America a positive opinion on the subject is shared by 82% of the respondents (13% of the surveyed people are of the opposite opinion). According to the Eurobarometer survey (2016) a decline in support for the TTIP was reported in 14 Member States, an increase in 9, and the same sentiment in 5. Some intuitive guesses concerning the nature of the social (including this one that is Internet provided) discourse make us suspect that there are not many judgments based on merits that would be involved in it.The main purpose of this paper is to confront the social perception concerning the FTA with the so-called knowledge. Defining a mismatch between the social perception and the expert may contribute to better understanding of the controversies on the FTA, as well as to proper defining possible sources of social conflicts and vulnerabilities of the policy implementation level. We want to verify the following hypotheses: there is a mismatch between social perception and expert on the FTA.The paper presents results of our research studies conducted on seven Polish web portals and one expert database. It should be mentioned that we also run the pilot survey focused on that issue (see Dzialo, Gawronska-Nowak, Jura, forthcoming). The key results of our pilot survey have been mostly confirmed in a bigger scale. We have also benefited from the pilot survey improving our methodological approach and defining sources of a possible bias in more precise way in this work.The paper is organised as follows. Section 1 contains description of our data and some methodological remarks. Using content analysis we try to capture some mismatch between facts and social perception in section 2. We focus on the Investor-to-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) question as a special case study in section 3. Section 4 concludes.1. Data description and methodological remarksThe study presented in the paper is based on an expert base (37 documents: 20132016) and on seven Polish web portals (91988 documents, no time restriction, just subject keyword filter used:CETA, Jan 2016 - Feb 2017).1.1. Expert baseThe knowledge data is based on 37 documents, consisting of three basic types of publishing:* research papers published in Polish academic journals (mostly located in the area of economics, but also social and political sciences),* economic books,* economic reports.Within each group of documents we select a set of sources according to the two following criteria:* Occurrence of the key-words like: FTA, CETA, TTIP, and other phrases strictly connected with the Free Trade Agreements and combined with the words: analysis, effects, evaluation, etc.* Names of experts who publish papers/books in the area of international trade and free trade agreements. In the process of selection of the authors, we based on our about their professionalism and high level of quality of economic debate they present, as well as on the high number of citation of their articles.We believe that relying on the above-mentioned criteria of selection provides us with quite complete set of the up-to-date and good quality expert level publishing on the FTA. …

Implications of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) for Investment Flows Between the European Union and the USA

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a controversial subject, but at the same time it is perceived to be the most comprehensive international agreement on free trade and investment protection. Among the topics that evoke criticism on the part of different social groups is the investor‑state dispute‑settlement (ISDS), as well as its legal consequences for the EU Member states. A less discussed issue is the potential implications of the agreement on the state of economic co‑operation between the European Union and the USA in the field of investment flows, with special reference to foreign direct investment (FDI). The aim of this paper is to present the discussion related to the ISDS and examine some of the economic, political and legal implications of TTIP provisions for FDI flows between the EU and the USA. The proposals of the European Commission to change the investment protection system might be treated as an attempt to make the system of arbitrage more transparent and convincing to societies, and safer for states. The effects of the TTIP agreement for FDI between both partners might be dependent on the scale of trade creation and diversion effects, and the mirror effects of investment creation and diversion under a free trade area.

How Do the Changing International Trade Relations Impact on Public Administration?

Seldom has world trade policy been the focus of such controversial public debate as it is today—and it is now accompanied by changes to practical trade policy that are more far reaching than any we’ve seen before. First, there was the formation of the contentious free trade agreements, such as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), and the ensuing worldwide protests over the exclusion of the public from the associated negotiations. Then came the surprise announcement from the new US presidency of the intention to step away from the TPP and TTIP—even though the USA had previously campaigned particularly strongly for those agreements. This development is accompanied by a far-reaching stagnation of current multilateral negotiations, as they exist within the framework of the world trade system. These issues all occupy places in the current political discussion around trade liberalisation. However, this contribution goes further, to focus on an equally important issue that is much less acknowledged in the public sphere, and that relates to the interdependence of the regulatory framework for economic integration with civil society, business and the administration. Free trade agreements—such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade Facilitation—can be looked on as models of international governance, exerting a considerable influence on the players in the member states. The author argues that business and the administration are then called to the task of devising and implementing appropriate strategies and following up with any necessary adaptations. He demonstrates that, for the stakeholders involved, economic integration simultaneously represents challenge, an intention to change and the opportunity for renewal.

Evaluation of the EU-Canada comprehensive economic and trade agreement (CETA) in terms of Turkish foreign trade

Purpose- Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA that European Union signed with Canada on November 30, 2016 has the quality to result in economic, social and cultural consequences by making norms as compatible not only by removing tariff barriers differently from formers. It has been expected that agreement which removes tariff barriers at the rate of 99% increases the trade between each two countries at the rate of 23%. In addition to this, consequences that cause some concerns in terms of Turkey that is still candidate country to EU are possible. Turkey had stayed out of negotiation period of CETA as is the case with meetings of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) that EU started negotiations with USA. On the other way, Turkey has been affected by CETA because of applying Customs Union Agreement with EU since 1996. Like agreements that EU has made with other countries, EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement is going to deepen the negative effects of Customs Union Agreement on foreign trade of Turkey. Methodolgy- In this study, Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, had been discussed in the view of basic indicators subjecting to foreign trade. Possible effects of CETA had been analyzed on Turkey economy because of that Turkey participate in European Customs Union. Findings- It had been seen that first of effects of Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement on Turkey economy had consisted of two sections as particular to CETA and TTIP. Conclusion- Turkey has been affected by CETA because it was applying Customs Union Agreement with EU since 1996. Like agreements that EU has made with other countries, EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement is going to deepen the negative effects of Customs Union Agreement on foreign trade of Turkey.

How Much Is Enough? Explaining the Continuous Transparency Conflict in TTIP

Transparency has been a central issue in the debate regarding the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), especially on the side of the European Union (EU). The lack of transparency in the negotiating process has been one of the main criticisms of civil society organizations (CSOs). The European Commission (EC) has tried to gain support for the negotiations through various ‘transparency initiatives’. Nonetheless, criticism by CSOs with regard to TTIP in general and the lack of transparency in specific remained prevalent. In this article, we explain this gap between various transparency initiatives implemented by the EC in TTIP and the expectations on the side of European CSOs. We perform a content analysis of position papers on transparency produced by CSOs, mainly in response to a European Ombudsman consultation, complemented by a number of official documents and targeted interviews. We find that the gap between the TTIP transparency initiatives and the expectations of CSOs can be explained by different views on what constitutes legitimate trade governance, and the role of transparency, participation, and accountability herein.

From Access to Documents to Consumption of Information: The European Commission Transparency Policy for the TTIP Negotiations

To increase transparency of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations, the European Commission has reformed existing information sharing systems for trade policy. The Commission has moved from a strategy of providing transparency in the form of access to documents to one of access to information, geared specifically towards enhancing consumption of the available information. In both public and institutional transparency policy, the width of the target audience and the depth of the information have increased, and the manner of provision has shifted from reactive to proactive provision of information. As a result, the TTIP is now being coined as the most transparent trade negotiation ever in the EU’s history and a pilot project for transparency policy in future trade negotiations. The article adopts a supply-centred perspective to explain a transparency policy that goes beyond the legal minimum imposed by formal requirements. It relies on interview data of the changes brought about in inter-institutional relations since 2014, basic quantitative and qualitative analysis of document material, and a five-month participatory observation by the author in the secretariat of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade.

TTIP negotiations, policy convergence, and the transatlantic digital economy

AbstractThe Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) has the potential to be a landmark treaty on many grounds. According to European and American officials, one of the main features that should differentiate the TTIP from other bilateral free trade agreements is, beyond its unprecedented scale, the ambition of its regulatory dimension. On both sides of the Atlantic there is a strong incentive to mitigate the impacts of “behind-the-border” obstacles that mostly stem from existing divergences between laws and regulations applied in Europe and in the United States. To do this, trade negotiators, together with policymakers and regulators, attempt, when possible and desirable, to facilitate the convergence of the policies that frame the European and the American markets. This paper analyzes how convergence may be reached with regards to the regulation of the digital economy, a relatively new area of interest in the field of trade law and policy studies, that seems to deserve a specific attention considering the growing importance it has taken at the domestic level and in the context of trade negotiations.

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) in the Kronen Zeitung

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) aims at levelling the commercial playing field between the European Union and the United States of America by, e.g., lowering tariffs to promote trade between the two economies. However, since early 2014, that is, even before the treaty negotiations could lead to concrete output, the free trade agreement has been faced with protests from both sides of the Atlantic and from individuals/groups from various ideological backgrounds. This paper draws on a corpus-assisted approach to examine how the TTIP is reported on in the Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung (Krone). Among other reasons, the newspaper was chosen as a source of data due to its clout as “the most widely read paper in the advanced industrialized world” “[i]n terms of readership per capita […] (Art, 2006). Indeed, the newspaper’s influence has remained steady at a readership of 40 to 47% (Meyer & Rosenberger, 2015). The corpus examination has found that the newspaper predominantly employs a nationalist discourse in order to elicit its readership’s rejection of the TTIP. Apart from cultivating resistance against this trade agreement, the newspaper’s reporting on the TTIP might affect its readership in (further) honing and normalising nationalist attitudes and general opposition against international cooperation. Moreover, the Krone might attract hitherto unreached segments of the Austrian population who, opposing the TTIP, are willing to join the Krone’s counter-TTIP campaign and are then vulnerable to subscribing to the newspaper’s more general discursive choices.