TTIP E-Book

Ferdi De Ville

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Seitenzahl: 255

Beschreibung

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) has stirred passions like no other trade negotiation in recent history. Its supporters maintain that TTIP will produce spectacular growth and job creation; claims that are wholeheartedly rejected by its critics, who regard TTIP as a direct assault on workers' rights, health and safety standards and public services. In this incisive analysis, Gabriel Siles-Brugge and Ferdi De Ville scrutinize the claims made by TTIP's cheerleaders and scaremongers to reveal a far more nuanced picture behind the headlines. TTIP will not provide an economic 'cure-all', nor will it destroy the European welfare state in one fell swoop. Thanks to unprecedented levels of protest and debate around TTIP, however, neoliberal trade negotiations are well and truly back in the spotlight. In this respect, TTIP could well prove to be a 'game-changer' - just not in the way imagined by its backers.

Leseprobe

Contents

Cover

Dedication

Title Page

Copyright

Abbreviations

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Why TTIP now?

The negotiating process

Beyond the hyperbole

Notes

1 Growth and Jobs

A way out of the crisis

Economic modelling and the ‘management of fictional expectations’

Modelling TTIP

Contesting economic modelling

Notes

2 Setting Global Standards

American decline and disillusion with market power Europe

Regulatory cooperation: the devil is in the mode

TTIP is unlikely to lead to global standards

Notes

3 The Bottom Line: Cutting Red Tape

Regulation in the crosshairs of the global trade regime

Regulatory politics in the EU and the US

The business agenda on TTIP

Concerns about regulatory chill remain

Cutting red tape from two sides

Deregulation as a bargaining chip

Giving up policy space through investor protection

Taking the politics out of regulation?

Notes

4 Challenging TTIP

Changing patterns of mobilisation

NGOs and the TTIP negotiations

The difficulties in selling free trade

A successful mobilisation?

Notes

Conclusion: Seizing the TTIP Moment

Rethinking global trade politics

At the service of citizens

Three scenarios for TTIP

Notes

References

Index

End User License Agreement

Guide

Cover

Contents

Begin Reading

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For Merel and Larissa

TTIP

The Truth about the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

Ferdi De Ville and Gabriel Siles-Brügge

polity

Copyright © Ferdi De Ville and Gabriel Siles-Brügge 2016

The right of Ferdi De Ville and Gabriel Siles-Brügge to be identified as Authors of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First published in 2016 by Polity Press

Polity Press65 Bridge StreetCambridge CB2 1UR, UK

Polity Press350 Main StreetMalden, MA 02148, USA

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-0105-2

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ville, Ferdi de.T.T.I.P. : the truth about the transatlantic trade and investment partnership / Ferdi De Ville, Gabriel Siles-Brügge.pages cmIncludes bibliographical references and index.ISBN 978-1-5095-0101-4 (hardback) -- ISBN 978-1-5095-0102-1 (pbk.)1. European Union countries--Foreign economic relations--United States.2. United States--Foreign economic relations--European Union countries.3. North Atlantic Region--Economic integration. I. Siles-Brügge, Gabriel. II. Title.HF1532.5.U6V55 2015382’.911821--dc232015019452

The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate.

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Abbreviations

ACTA

Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement

AFL-CIO

American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organizations

ATTAC

Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions and Aid to Citizens

BEUC

Bureau of European Union Consumer Organisations

BIT

bilateral investment treaty

CEO

Corporate Europe Observatory

CEPR

Centre for Economic Policy Research

CETA

EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement

CGE

computable general equilibrium

DG

Directorate-General

ECI

European Citizens’ Initiative

EDC

endocrine disrupting chemical

EP

European Parliament

EPA

Environmental Protection Agency

ESF

European Services Forum

ETUC

European Trade Union Confederation

EU

European Union

FDA

Food and Drug Administration

FQD

Fuel Quality Directive

FTA

free trade agreement

GATS

General Agreement on Trade in Services

GATT

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

GDP

gross domestic product

GMO

genetically modified organism

HLWG

High Level Working Group on Jobs and Growth

IA

impact assessment

IAB

Impact Assessment Board

INTA

International Trade Committee of the European Parliament

ISDS

investor-to-state dispute settlement

MAI

Multilateral Agreement on Investment

MEP

Member of the European Parliament

MRA

mutual recognition agreement

MRL

maximum residue level

NAFTA

North-American Free Trade Agreement

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

NGO

non-governmental organisation

NHS

National Health Service

NTA

New Transatlantic Agenda

NTB

non-tariff barrier

NTM

non-tariff measure

OIRA

Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

OSHA

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

RCB

regulatory cooperation body

REACH

Regulation on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals

REFIT

Regulatory Fitness and Performance Programme

RoHS

Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive

S2B

Seattle-to-Brussels Network

SME

small and medium-sized enterprise

SPS

sanitary and phytosanitary (measures)

TABD

Transatlantic Business Dialogue

TACD

Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue

TAFTA

Transatlantic Free Trade Area

TBT

technical barriers to trade

TNI

Transnational Institute

TPA

Trade Promotion Authority

TPN

Transatlantic Policy Network

TPP

Trans-Pacific Partnership

TRIPS

Agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights

TSCA

Toxic Substances Control Act

TTIP

Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

UEAPME

European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

UNECE

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

US

United States

USTR

United States Trade Representative

WEEE

Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment

WTO

World Trade Organisation

Acknowledgements

A lot has happened since we first discussed doing collaborative research on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the trade agreement currently being negotiated between the European Union (EU) and the United States (US). We were both attending an academic conference being held in the European Parliament back in April 2013. Much like other ‘trade nerds’, we were not quite expecting the negotiations to generate as much interest as they have over the past couple of years. Let’s face it, trade policy is often seen as an extremely technical, acronym-laden, even soporific area of politics, best left to bureaucrats. While Ferris Bueller has his ‘day off’ school in the cult 1980s film bearing his name, his history teacher bores the class with a lesson on US tariff policy during the Great Depression (although this in itself is also not an unimportant issue, as we touch upon in the book). At dinner parties and other social gatherings, neither of us was used to talking at much length about what we do in our ‘day jobs’. And yet trade policy increasingly has important consequences for our ‘everyday’ lives, not only influencing the price of the goods we consume but, rather, also increasingly shaping the way in which our governments can take action against the health, social and environmental risks we face in our societies. This is why the debate surrounding TTIP – which is all about how trade agreements impact on the ability of governments to regulate in the public interest – is so welcome. Trade is too important just to be left to the experts. The knowledge shown by participants at the many events we have attended over the past two years – from street protests to debates at the European Parliament – gives us hope that the days where trade is seen as ‘boring’ are numbered.

As a result, we are extremely grateful to the editorial team at Polity for this opportunity to write about TTIP for a broader audience. Our editor, Louise Knight, not only strongly encouraged us to pursue this project in the first place but has shown a level of interest, dedication and guidance at every stage which we could have only hoped for. We would also like to thank Pascal Porcheron for his excellent editorial assistance, including just the right amount of prodding to ensure we delivered the manuscript in a reasonably timely fashion. While the manuscript’s reviewers provided a number of insightful comments that helped greatly in finessing the book’s argument, a number of other people took time out of their busy schedules to read parts of the manuscript (or the text in its entirety) and/or offer feedback in other extremely helpful ways. We feel that it is only right that we thank them here: Tony Heron (who also got us thinking about the distinction between ‘normative’ and ‘distributive’ trade conflict), Niels Gheyle, Henrik Hermansson, Joelle Dumouchel, Sacha Dierckx, Nicolette Butler, Dorte Sindbjerg Martinsen, Donna Lee, Jean-Christoph Graz, Jens Ladefoged Mortensen, Yelter Bollen, Marjolein Derous and Stijn Van Wesemael. Any remaining errors are our sole responsibility. Similarly, we would like to thank all those who agreed to be interviewed for this book whom we are unable to name in the interest of preserving their anonymity – and all those individuals who have discussed TTIP with us over the last couple of years and who have immensely enriched our understanding of trade politics. In addition, a big thank you is owed to the University of Manchester Press Office (especially Mike Addelman) and the people at Policy@Manchester (in particular Alex Waddington) for helping us to communicate our research on TTIP to a wider audience.

We wish to thank the publisher Taylor & Francis for allowing us to draw on material (in a significantly revised and expanded form) previously published by us in the following journal article: (2014), ‘The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and the role of computable general equilibrium modelling: an exercise in “managing fictional expectations”’, New Political Economy, doi: 10.1080/13563467.2014.983059. Gabriel would like to express his thanks to Ghent University’s Centre for European Union Studies for hosting him in November–December of 2014. This was an invaluable opportunity to work closely with co-author Ferdi – as well as to put an ear to the ground of the politics surrounding TTIP in Brussels. He is also very grateful to the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Political Science for hosting him as a Visiting Scholar (and External Associate on the EuroChallenge research project) over the last few months of book-writing in what has been an extremely stimulating research environment, and to the University of Manchester Politics’ Discipline Area for granting him research leave over this period. Finally, Gabriel acknowledges the funding support of the UK Economic and Social Research Council for some of the research featured in this book.

On a more personal note, Ferdi would like to thank his girlfriend Merel – for whom TTIP will not help much in overcoming her lack of interest in trade politics, but who is all the more important to help remind him that there are so many more significant and enjoyable things than this agreement – and his family, friends and colleagues for all their support and encouragement. Gabriel wishes to thank his long-term partner Larissa for all the support she has given him over the years – particularly in hard times – his friends, especially Chris, Laura and Adrienne, and his family (his father José and his mother Martina, as well as his brother Oscar). This book would not have been possible without all their support.

Ferdi De Ville and Gabriel Siles-BrüggeGhent and Copenhagen, May 2015

Introduction

Advocates and opponents of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agree on very little. But both share the view that the negotiations to create a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two largest economies in the world, the European Union (EU) and the United States (US), represent a ‘game-changer’. According to supporters, TTIP is a ‘no-brainer’, making us all wealthier and allowing the EU and the US to set the standards for the global economy. Critics, on the other hand, warn that TTIP will benefit only big business and leave us all with worse jobs and less environmental, food and health security – undermining our democracy through secretive negotiations and the establishment of corporate tribunals with the right to challenge national laws. George Monbiot has gone as far as to call it a ‘full-frontal assault on democracy’. But who is right? What is the truth about TTIP? Will the agreement get us out of the economic crisis and allow Europe and the US to continue exercising global leadership in the twenty-first century, as advocates argue? Or will Europeans soon be buying chicken washed in chlorine and hormone-treated beef without their knowledge and have their democratic policy choices undermined by corporate tribunals, as critics claim?