European Institute

With the official nomination of President Obama’s Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics, Michael Froman, as the next U.S. Trade Representative, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership  (TTIP)has taken a vital and important step closer to the negotiating starting gate.  Froman, a close friend and advisor of the President, has been central to the Obama Administration’s trade agenda since 2009. read more...

Editors Note—the following article is another in the ongoing series published by European Affairs on the important trade negotiations between the EU and U.S.

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is expected to be “a high-standard agreement that will benefit U.S. workers, manufacturers, service suppliers, farmers, ranchers, innovators, creators, small- and medium- sized businesses and consumers.”[1] In part, this “high-standard” will be achieved by a “deep dive” into regulation. . With the globe’s two largest markets already having substantially open markets, particularly in information, communications and technology (ICT), regulatory convergence will be at the center of discussions, which means that the rules and authority of regulatory bodies will be front and center. For ICT, the key challenge will be facilitating the free flow of data over the cloud while protecting privacy rights and data security. A subsidiary challenge will be covering – while not fettering – services that enable social media and other “apps” that did not exist the last time services trade was included in a multilateral agreement.

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In today’s globalized economy, many smaller states can no longer compete in the world market on their own. The formation of economic-political blocs provides a competitive edge by combining national economies into stronger and deeper regional partnerships. For some states however, the conundrum is figuring out which bloc best serves their long-term national interests. read more...