scholarly journals TTIP and Intra-European Trade: Boon or Bane?

2016 ◽  
Vol 236 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rahel Aichele ◽  
Gabriel J. Felbermayr ◽  
Inga Heiland

Abstract:The European Union is the world’s deepest free trade zone. Amongst its members, it has abolished tariffs and lowered non-tariff barriers. This has led to trade creation within Europe and to trade diversion between EU countries and outsiders. Deep trade integration and the resulting mutual dependence has, in the eyes of many, facilitated political integration. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will undo some of these effects by means of preference erosion, so that cross-country trade links within Europe may lose relative prominence. However, the presence of a rich fabric of regional value chains in Europe and substantial income effects could counter this development. We provide insights on the empirical importance of these effects based on a New Quantitative Trade Model. We show that TTIP could indeed lower trade integration in Europe since predicted income effects turn out not to be large enough to overcome the effects of preference erosion. However, there is substantial heterogeneity across sectors and countries. One way to minimize preference erosion would be to promote projects and programs to further deepen the EU’s single market.

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 415-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilaria Espa ◽  
Kateryna Holzer

Abstract In the context of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the European Union (EU) has taken the lead in promoting the inclusion of a specific chapter on energy trade and investment in order to enhance energy security and promote renewable energy. Irrespective of the success of the TTIP negotiations, the EU proposal can contribute to developing multilateral rules on energy trade and investment. This is especially important given the increased number of energy disputes filed by the EU and the United States against other leading energy market players, including the BRICS. This article provides a normative analysis of the new rules proposed by the EU and reflects on potential responses of BRICS energy regulators. It argues that, while these rules are unlikely to immediately affect BRICS energy practices, they may eventually be ‘imported’ in BRICS domestic jurisdictions in order to promote renewable energy and attract investment in energy infrastructure.


AJIL Unbound ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 109 ◽  
pp. 309-315
Author(s):  
Robert Howse

Late last year, the European Commission unveiled an ambitious and complex proposal to replace investor-state arbitration with a transnational court, including an appellate instance, which has now been incorporated into its new bilateral agreements with Vietnam and Canada (CETA). The Commission was responding to strong public resistance to including investor protections in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the trade and investment agreement being negotiated between the European Union and the United States. This resistance reflects a remarkable shift in emphasis from the World Trade Organization (WTO) to the investment regime in what could be called loosely the antineoliberal globalization movement. The overarching concern is that international decision-makers with a neoliberal or procorporate bias will limit the policy space of sovereign states, especially in sensitive areas such as public services, the environment, health, and safety. While it is arguable that few of the actual outcomes in investor-state disputes can properly be understood in this way, the pursuit by Philip Morris of its attack on tobacco regulation through the investment regime has certainly provided a very obvious example for the activists. (The defeat of that challenge on jurisdictional grounds doesn’t really provide assurance about the substantive norms at issue and their consistency with policy space.)


2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 25-39
Author(s):  
Janina Witkowska

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.


Author(s):  
Szilárd Gáspár-Szilágyi

This article critically assesses the feasibility of the recently proposed Investment Court System (ICS) under the envisaged Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), from the perspective of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). It is argued that an ex ante assessment of the ICS by the CJEU would likely result in several incompatibilities between the ICS and EU law, since insufficient safeguards exist guaranteeing that the ICS will not interfere with EU fundamental rights and the CJEU’s exclusive jurisdiction to deliver binding interpretations of EU law. Moreover, it is not yet certain whether an incompatibility exists with Article 344 TFEU or with substantive EU values. Furthermore, no preliminary reference mechanism is envisaged with a binding ruling of the CJEU and even if such a system were included, it is uncertain whether the ICS could refer a question to the CJEU.


Author(s):  
Matthew Watson

This chapter explores important issues in the conduct of global trade and global finance. It asks why the global economy is so good at allowing some people to own untold riches while many others have too little money to meet basic subsistence needs, and whether the world would be better or worse off without the institutions of global economic governance. After discussing the globalization of trade and finance, the chapter considers the regulation of global trade and global finance. Two case studies are presented, one dealing with comparative advantage theory in historical perspective and the other with the Occupy movement. There is also an Opposing Opinions box that addresses the question of whether the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the United States and the European Union will provide enhanced opportunities for economic development around the world in a way that the World Trade Organization system now cannot.


Author(s):  
Amanda M Countryman ◽  
Andrew Muhammad

AbstractImport policies in the European Union have greatly restricted beef imports from all sources. The presence of a binding tariff-rate quota (TRQ) on beef imports in tandem with sanitary and phytosanitary restrictions on biotechnological food products specifically inhibit beef imports from the United States and limit market access in the EU. Potential passage of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership may lead to a loosening of non-tariff measures (NTM) that serve as technical barriers to trade and give rise to the coexistence of hormone and non-hormone beef products in the EU marketplace. This research assesses the potential changes in import demand for beef under a trade agreement that allows for imports of conventional beef as well as an expansion of the existing TRQ in the EU beef import market. Results confirm that EU imports of beef will increase from all sources with an expansion of the TRQ and that elimination of the NTM related to beef production practices leads to an increase in competiveness of U.S. and Australian beef in the EU import market.


Author(s):  
Sebastian Juhl ◽  
David Hilpert

Abstract The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the European Union and the US is highly technical. Still, the negotiations triggered large-scale protests among citizens with very diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. Why has a complex issue such an enormous mobilizing effect although the economic consequences are either unclear or favorable for the participating economies? We argue that the transparency of negotiations is an important consideration for people evaluating the negotiation outcome. Conducting a survey experiment, we show that non-transparent decision-making decreases citizens' appraisal of the agreement independent of its outcome: A non-transparent negotiation is, on average, almost 16 percent less likely to find public approval than a transparent but otherwise identical agreement. Our findings have important implications for democratic decision-making.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 16-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels Gheyle ◽  
Ferdi De Ville

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.


2014 ◽  
pp. 130-143
Author(s):  
I. Gurova

The paper analyzes the main tenets of economic integration theory in order to reveal the features of the CIS regional integration and propose approaches of its theoretical model development. Quantitative methods have been used to assess the effects of creation and trade diversion, the relationship between bilateral exports, investment and technology exchange. It is established that the integration of the CIS deviates from the traditional model. At the lower stage it is accompanied by deepening cooperation in various sectors that have an effect on trade integration. Thus in contrast to the model of the European Union, it is a “non-linear” one. It is argued that the integration policy in the CIS region must be changed: more attention should be paid to the investment and trade agenda instead of trade.


Author(s):  
Kyle Dylan Dickson-Smith

The purpose of this article is to critically analyse the methodology and impact of the investment chapter the European Union (EU) proposed for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). It focusses on the innovations of an appellate body and the incorporation of a ‘right to regulate’-provision, as well as general exceptions that are very similar to Article XX of the GATT. In light of the development that these features have been replicated in the CETA and the EU-Vietnam FTA, it questions why the EU is changing the traditional form of investor-State arbitration in a preferential trade and investment agreement and whether the EU’s model is viable, and formulated on a robust design that will stand the test of time.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document