TTIP: Who Gains, Who Loses?

• 05.03.2016, 13:50
•  Europe,  America,  World

www.europarl.europa.eu

On May 2, 2016 Greenpeace non-governmental environmental organization based in Netherlands has published 248 pages of leaked Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiating texts, which so far has been negotiated between the EU and the US. The document has revealed a number of problematic issues, which have become an active topic of discussion and, in a sense, confirmed the criticism previously raised by the TTIP skeptics.

Before passing to those critical points, it should be reminded that negotiations on TTIP between the US and the EU countries started two and a half years ago and the sides aimed at reaching an agreement before November 2016 that is before the US elections (as several candidates, such as Clinton, Sanders, Trump, have already expressed concerns about TTIP).  In case the agreement is reached it will present the world’s largest trade deal as the EU and the US economies comprise about half of the entire world’s GDP. The aim of the deal is to get rid of the remaining obstacles that impede trade between the US and the EU countries.

The leaked documents prove that in case the agreement is reached the trade between the EU and the US aims at overcoming a number of food safety and environment protection laws that are stricter in the EU countries as opposed to the ones in the US. In addition, from those documents it becomes obvious that the European Commission will be obliged to consult with the US authorities before adopting new legislative proposal. The experts have fears that the agreement will allow business to have an influence on the politics, which they consider a big threat to the European democracy, the Independent reports.

All in all it is interesting to know who will mostly benefit in case the deal is signed. According to the calculations of the European Commission, once the deal is signed it will boost the economy of the EU by 120 billion Euros, while the US economy by 90 billion Euros. No matter how profitable the deal may seem, the Europeans are to face hard choice between economic benefits on the one hand and political, environmental and health benefits on the other hand.

If the criticism and the fears of the Europeans are known, it will  also be interesting to know how the critics of the deal explain their position in the US.  For example, the US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton last year commenting on the trade deal noted:

"I have said from the very beginning that we had to have a trade agreement that would create good American jobs, raise wages and advance our national security. And I still believe that’s the high bar we have to meet," Huffington Post reports.

In his turn republican front runner Donald Trump also criticized the trade deal noting: "The Trans-Pacific Partnership is an attack on America's business," CNN reports.

However, unlike Europe, there are no mass protests in the US against the TTIP. And it is quite natural because as the leak documents also reveal the side that should go to the main concessions is the Europeans who should again sacrifice their rules and values to economic interests.