In May 2016, French President Francois Hollande announced that the country would reject the
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership in its current state.
This comes just months after US President Barack Obama’s visits to the United Kingdom
and Germany, where thousands of protesters urged him to stop TTIP negotiations.
Opposition to the trade deal is nothing new, and disputes among leaders on both sides of
the Atlantic have stalled the treaty for nearly three years.
So what exactly is the TTIP and why is it so controversial?
Well, the TTIP is a potential trade agreement between the United States and the European
Union.
The deal aims to make trade easier between the US and Europe by reducing tariffs and
altering regulations on goods, which vary from country to country.
For instance, the US has different food safety standards than countries in Europe, meaning
that trading meat and agricultural products is often difficult or impossible.
The TTIP aims to resolve this by harmonizing US and EU safety and production standards—not
just on food, but on clothing, pharmaceuticals and a slew of other goods.
This is not unlike the TPP, or Trans Pacific Partnership, which has almost identical goals,
but exists mostly between Pacific Rim countries.
The Obama Administration and other proponents of the TTIP argue that the deal will boost
commerce between the US and Europe, thus creating millions of jobs in those regions and elsewhere.
According to the European Commission, the TTIP would lead to about $140 billion dollars
of economic growth for the EU, and nearly $110 billion dollars for the US over the next
decade.
But most of the controversy centers around the deal’s potential changes to regulation
and safety standards, particularly those in Europe.
Activists and politicians have voiced concern that the TTIP would force Europe to sacrifice
their food, environmental and labor standards in order to conform to the US’s comparatively
lower standards.
For example, many US meat producers treat their chicken with chemicals like chlorine
before its sold to consumers, a practice that has long been outlawed in Europe out of fear
that the chemical is cancer-causing.
Many speculate that should the TTIP go through, it would coerce European chicken producers
to adopt this controversial practice.
Moreover, critics worry that the deal gives corporations too much power, as it would allow
foreign businesses to sue sovereign governments if their regulations are deemed unfairly restrictive.
These speculations gained major footing in May 2016, when Greenpeace Netherlands leaked
248 pages of classified documents regarding the TTIP.
The documents acknowledged “irreconcilable” differences between US and EU standards, particularly
in animal testing, engineering, drug safety and the environment.
However even after the leak, most TTIP negotiations have stayed confidential, as negotiations
are extremely secretive, even among lawmakers.
But many Europeans, particularly business leaders, have strongly advocated for the TTIP.
This, in part, comes from the fear that if the EU does not adopt the deal, Europe will
then have to increase trade with China, which in many cases has even lower production and
safety standards than the US.
And although vocal opposition may suggest otherwise, the TTIP is generally viewed as
beneficial among Europeans.
A 2015 Pew report showed that nearly 60 percent of Europeans favor stronger trade ties between
Europe and the US Still, all 28 EU member states and the European parliament must approve
the TTIP before it takes effect.
With France and other European countries still opposed to the deal, it will likely be years
before we see anything come to fruition.
The TTIP’s sister agreement, the TPP, is just as controversial, if not moreso.
You can learn more about the Trans Pacific Partnership by watching this video.
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