Written by Jan Baeverstroem
© pne / Fotolia
At the EU-US summit in 2011 a decision was taken to set up a High Level Working Group (HLWG) to see if an EU-US trade agreement was feasible. In November 2012, the Trade Commissioner outlinedthe four areas that he would like to see included in an agreement: tariff elimination, services liberalisation, public procurement and regulatory cooperation. Europe and America both support a “rules-based” trading system. Furthermore they both want “a high level of protection for our people from risks to their health, safety, financial security and environment”, as underlined by the Trade Commissioner at the Transatlantic Business Council in December 2012.
The negotiations should be used to find new ways to reinforce existing mechanisms like the Transatlantic Economic Council- TEC and the High Level EU-US Regulatory Cooperation Forum – HLRCF “. Areas where the EU and US differ includes: hormones in meat, GMOs; energy consumption of cars, nanotechnology and privacy issues. The European Commission General Directorate for Trade has compiled a fact sheet and an overview on r egulatory cooperation in the TTIP, detailing horizontal and sectorial provisions (January 2015) as well as position papers on issues such as “Sanitary and Phytosanitary” (SPS), chemicals, cosmetics and pharmaceutical products . The Commissioners for Trade, Karel De Gucht and Cecilia Malmström, have repeatedly underlined that the levels of regulatory protection won’t change .
An initial textual proposal for a draft Chapter on Regulatory Cooperation , prepared for the 8th round of TTIP negotiations, was published on February 10, 2015. At the end of the 8th round, both negotiators underlined the progress made on both horizontal and sectorial sectors, including SPS, chemicals and pharmaceuticals.
Overviews
Towards Effective Regulatory Cooperation under TTIP: A Comparative Overview of the EU and US Legislative and Regulatory Systems / Richard Parker, Alberto Alemanno, CEPS Special Reports, 15 May 2014
The aim of this report is to inform the EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment negotiations on enhanced regulatory coherence and cooperation, by providing negotiators, stakeholders and the public with a comparative overview of the US and EU legislative and regulatory processes in their current form, highlighting differences and similarities
Four recommendations for TTIP Regulatory Cooperation Talks / Powerpoint by Richard W. Parker, University of Connecticut Law School, 18 December 2014
Enhancing the Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership: Reducing Regulatory Barriers / George Washington Regulatory Studies Center, 19-20 November 2014
A two-day conference bringing together EU and US policy officials, regulatory experts, and stakeholders to explore challenges to, and opportunities for, greater transatlantic regulatory cooperation
Achieving Regulatory Policy Objectives: An Overview and Comparison of U.S. and EU Procedures — Role of Legislatures & Courts — Role of ex ante Regulatory Impact Analysis & ex post Regulatory Evaluation — Stakeholder Consultation — Lessons and Experiences in Regulatory and Trade Cooperation
Regulatory cooperation at the core of TTIP and its likely consequences / Ronan O’Brien, Independent researcher, Brussels, Revised October 2014
‘Race to the bottom’ or setting global standards? Assessing the regulatory impact of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) / Gabriel Siles-Brügge, Real Insituto Elcano. ARI 42/2014 – 19/9/2014
This study considers the likely regulatory impact of the proposed EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) in three key policy areas: investor protection, public services and food safety.
DG Enterprise: EU-USA – Regulatory Cooperation
EU views
European Parliament resolution of 23 May 2013 on EU trade and investment negotiations with the United States of America
19. Reaffirms its support for the dismantling of unnecessary regulatory barriers, and encourages the Commission and the US Administration to include in the agreement mechanisms (including early upstream regulatory cooperation) aimed at preventing future barriers; considers that better regulation and the reduction of regulatory and administrative burdens are issues which must be at the forefront when negotiating the TTIP, and that greater transatlantic regulatory convergence should lead to more streamlined regulation which is easy to understand and apply, in particular for SMEs;
European Parliament resolution of 23 October 2012 on trade and economic relations with the United States
11. Recognises that overly burdensome regulatory standards serve as significant barriers to trade, and that additional growth could follow from addressing such barriers; emphasises that an alignment of EU and US regulatory standards should aim at reaching the highest common standard and, thereby, also improve the product safety for consumers; underlines the need to avoid creating new (even if unintended) barriers to trade and investment, especially in key emerging technologies and innovative sectors;
Hearing: Regulatory coherence and the implementation of EU law in the context of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership / Legal Affairs Committee, 11-02-2014
Regulatory Coherence and the Implementation of EU Law in TTIP / Alberto Alemanno — Talking Points for EP Committee on Legal Affairs TTIP Workshop / James Killick, Partner, White & Case LLP — U.S. Rulemaking Process / Joseph E. Burke, US EU Mission
Update on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) – Hearing on Regulatory Coherence and the Implementation of EU law / Juri report, Feb. 2014 (scroll down)
Members held an exchange of views in Brussels on 16 January 2014 with Ambassador Miriam Sapiro, then Deputy US Trade Representative responsible for US trade negotiations and enforcement in Europe (and who has since resigned from that post – her replacement is yet to be announced), and with Mr Dan Mullaney, Chief T-TIP Negotiator on the US side.
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and the parliamentary dimension of regulatory cooperation study / European Parliament. Policy Department External Policies. 2014
While this report reviews these efforts in detail, the general conclusion regarding past attempts at regulatory convergence is an overall lack of success: regulatory differences remain as neither side has the incentives to consider the extraterritorial effects of its regulations. As an international agreement predicted to contain a Horizontal Chapter – an innovative approach to international trade treaty-making containing a framework for future regulatory cooperation – TTIP has the potential to transform this impasse, if approached correctly. The Horizontal Chapter would provide a ‘gateway’ for handling sectoral regulatory issues between the EU and the US, including by addressing both legislation and non-legislative acts, regardless of the level at which they are adopted and by whom
Welle : new focus on forging links with US regulatory agencies / Europolitics, 19 Feb. 2013
Transatlantic Economic Council Joint Statement , November 29, 2011
Annexes to the TEC Joint Statement, November 29, 2011
Secure Trade and Supply Chain Security — Intellectual Property Rights — Investment — Raw Materials — Bio-economy and Biobased Products — E-Health — ICT Services Trade Related Principles — SME Cooperation — Cloud Computing — Nanotechnology — Work Plan for Advancing Transatlantic e-Mobility Cooperation
Stakeholder views
Think Tanks
Answering TTIP’s Critics: Regulatory Cooperation in Risk Assessment and Risk Management / by Reeve T. Bull, Administrative Conference of the United States, ACUS, December 08, 2014
ACUS is a federalagency whose mission is to promote improvements in the efficiency, adequacy, and fairness of the procedures by which federal agencies conduct regulatory programs.
Regulatory Cooperation will Provide a Geopolitical Advantage / Kent Hughes, Atlantic Community, October 21, 2014
The US and EU account for roughly half of the world’s GDP, some thirty-percent of global exports, and each economy has more than a trillion dollars of investment in the other. There are three compelling reasons for the TTIP to succeed: improved market access including regulatory cooperation, developing new trade and investment rules for a new century, and forging a renewed Transatlantic Community in response to recent geopolitical developments.
Trade barriers in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership /Simon Lester & Inu Barbee, Cato Institute & Center for North American Studies at American University, 2014
This paper examines the problem of regulatory barriers and offers an assessment of what can be achieved. It concludes that while some claims of potential benefits are overstated, this does not mean that facilitating regulatory cooperation is not worthwhile. Negotiators should go after the low-hanging fruit, putting aside some of the more contentious regulatory disputes, and be responsive to the needs of industry and consumers by focusing their attention on issue areas where they can have the greatest impact
Prospects for regulatory convergence under TTIP / by Karmakar, Suparna, Bruegel Policy Contribution, Issue 2013/15, October 2013
Regulatory congruence would require the unilateral and unconditional recognition by the TTIP partners of each other’s standards, procedures and conformity assessment tests. The way forward is to create a ‘living’ (or progressive commitment) agreement on regulatory cooperation with a horizontal template for coherence and conformity assessment and a detailed monitoring mechanism, with implementation starting immediately for a few selected sectors
Vigilance vs. Precaution: Diverging Directions in U.S. and European Technology Governance? / By Dr. Sascha Dickel, AICGS Transatlantic Perspectives, June 2011
Producer views
Regulatory Cooperation in TTIP – Priorities for German and European Industry / Presentation BDI/ BUSINESSEUROPE/ Representative of German Industry and Trade (RGIT), Stakeholder Meeting, TTIP Negotiations, 21 May 2014
On October 31, 2012 TABD submitted its joint statement along with the Business Roundtable and ERT to the Federal Register Notice USTR-2012-0028 and to the European Commision request for comments earlier today. The submission on regulatory issues for a possible future trade agreement included an additional document: (Forging a Transatlantic Partnership for the 21st Century and Letter on Regulatory Compatibility)) that were referenced in the joint statement.
Business Roundtable , an association of CEOs leading U.S. companies, amplifies diverse business perspectives on the world’s most difficult challenges. Submission to the European Commission Directorate-General for Trade:Public Consultation on the Future of EU-U.S. Trade and Economic Relations . October 19, 2012
ERT is an informal forum bringing together up to 50 chief executives and chairmen of major multinational companies of European parentage
ERT sets out six recommendations for European standard-setting bodies and public authorities to ensure standards are treated as a crucial element of its industrial policy. (Fuel Quality Directive, NFC standard Common Code for the Coffee Community (4C), E-mobility standard)
Civil Society Views
TTIP: Regulatory cooperation is the ultimate tool to prevent or weaken future public interest standards for citizens, workers, consumers, and the environment, February 2015
Civil society groups denounce “regulatory cooperation” in the TTIP negotiations as a threat to democracy and an attempt to put the interests of big business before the protection of citizens, workers, and the environment
TTIP’s Impact: Bringing in the Missing Issue / Martin Myant, European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) & Ronan O’Brien, ETUI Working Paper 2015.01, January 16, 2015
This working paper reviews the main studies on the economic impact of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and concludes that benefits are minimal and the TTIP would not get Europe of the crisis. It also looks at the one-sided way regulations are considered only as costs for business in the TTIP with serious implications for the democratic control of such regulations for EU member states.
Transatlantic Trade & Investment Parternship:Fast-track to Deregulation / Aida Maria Ponce Del Castillo, European Trade Union Institute, June 23 & 24, 2014
Power-point presentation
TTIP: No to backroom deals that would imperil our health, environment and welfare
33 Civil society groups denounce attempts to design transatlantic “regulatory cooperation” to fit business lobbies’ demands and call for full transparency. September 29th 2014
Regulation – none of our business? / Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), December 16th 2013
A leaked EU negotiating proposal for the far-reaching free trade agreement with the US reveals the European Commission’s plans to fundamentally change the way regulations to protect consumers, labour and the environment will be adopted in the future
Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) is a forum for US and EU consumer organisations which develops and agrees on joint consumer policy recommendations to the US government and European Union to promote consumer interests in EU and US policy making.
2013 TACD Stakeholder Forum: “The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership: can it bring benefits to the people?”, October 30, 2013
Resolution on Regulatory Coherence in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership , December 2013
US Views
US Trade Department
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) (U.S. Trade Representative)
U.S. Objectives, U.S. Benefits In the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership: A Detailed View, 03/11/2014
Remarks by U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman on the United States, the European Union, and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership , September 30, 2013
“We need to admit that government regulatory experts, be they in Brussels or Washington, do not have a monopoly on good ideas and expertise. Many private sector actors are ahead of the curve with cutting-edge ideas. And the speed at which standards are being set by the market is far greater than most bureaucratic or intergovernmental bodies can move”
US Congress
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP): The US Congress’s positions / Wanda TROSZCZYNSKA-VAN GENDEREN and Elfriede BIERBRAUER, Policy Department, Directorate-General for External Policies. EP, 09 September 2014
The U.S. – E.U. Free Trade Agreement: Tipping Over the Regulatory Barriers / Hearing. House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Background Documents and Information: Hearing Notice & Background Memo
Congressional Research Services
EU-U.S. Economic Ties: Framework, Scope, and Magnitude / William Cooper, 24 February 2014
As the U.S. and EU economies continue to integrate, some sectors or firms will “lose out” to increased competition and will resist the forces of change. Greater economic integration also challenges long-held notions of “sovereignty,” as national or regional policies have extraterritorial impact. Similarly, accepted understandings of “competition,” “markets,” and other economic concepts are tested as national borders dissolve with closer integration of economies.
Transatlantic Regulatory Cooperation : Background and Analysis / Raymond J. Ahearn, 7 March 2011 Newer edition available through the EP Library
The differences in regulatory approaches limit an even more integrated marketplace from developing. To deal with this situation, a variety of government-to-government efforts have been created to dismantle existing regulatory barriers and to prevent new ones from emerging. These efforts fall under the rubric of transatlantic regulatory cooperation (TRC)
GAO
Regulatory Review Processes Could Be Enhanced / GAO-14-423T, Mar 11, 2014
GAO’s recent work continues to highlight progress in facilitating transparency and public participation as well as room for improvement. In 2012, GAO found that agencies often requested comments when issuing major rules without a notice of proposed rulemaking but missed an opportunity to improve those rules because they did not always respond to the comments
I nternational regulatory cooperation : Agency Efforts Could Benefit from Increased Collaboration and Interagency Guidance , GAO-13-588, Aug 1, 2013.
US Producers’ views
Far From Eroding Regulatory Protections, TTIP’s Cooperative Regime Could Bolster Sound Regulation / Bull, Reeve T., Bloomberg Daily Report, Jul. 23, 2014
Article by ACUS Attorney Advisor Reeve T. Bull responding to various criticisms levelled against the Transatlantic Trade and Invesment Partnership
Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) / The American Chemistry Council (ACC), May 10, 2013
AmCham EU’s response to the European Commission Public consultation on the future of EU-US trade and economic relations , 27 September 2012
Regulatory Cooperation and Coherence: — Regulatory Cooperation and Coherence — Common Impact Assessment procedures — Common Impact Assessment procedures
Business Coalition for Transatlantic Trade on regulatory cooperation
Regulatory cooperation and TTIP Op-Ed: Regulatory cooperation and TTIP / by Cefic’s Lena Perenius, Executive Director, International Chemicals Management, that appeared on May 18 2014 in ChemicalWatch
Bibliography
Books
EU regulatory decision making and the role of the United States : transatlantic regulatory cooperation as a gateway for U. S. economic interests? / Oliver Ziegler, Springer VS, 2013
Introduction and research problem — A theoretical framework — The institutional structure of transatlantic regulatory cooperation — Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment — Ozone-depleting substances — Animal testing for cosmetic products — Metric Labeling — The four cases and their outcomes — Generalizing the conclusions to other cases
The politics of precaution regulating health, safety, and environmental risks in Europe and the United States / David Vogel, Oxford University Press, 2012
The transatlantic shift in regulatory stringency — Explaining regulatory policy divergence — Food safety and agriculture — Air pollution — Chemicals and hazardous substances — Consumer safety — Public risk perceptions and the preferences of policy makers — The law and politics of risk assessment — Broader implications
Systemic implications of transatlantic regulatory cooperation and competition / Simon Evenett, Robert Stern, World Scientific, 2011
Condemned to cooperate? — The banking crisis: causes, consequences and remedies — The political economy of transatlantic regulatory cooperation and competition: a (unofficial) view from Europe — How hard and soft law interact in international regulatory governance: alternatives, complements and antagonists — EU-US regulatory cooperation and developing country trade — Transatlantic trade, the automotive sector: the role of regulation in a global industry, where we have been and where we need to go, how far can EU-US cooperation go toward achieving regulatory harmonization? — Systemic implications of deeper transatlantic convergence in competition/antitrust policy — Transatlantic regulatory cooperation on chemicals – an idealist’s dream? — Transatlantic regulatory cooperation on accounting standards: a ‘varieties of capitalism’ perspective — Transatlantic regulatory competition and cooperation in pharmaceuticals
Transatlantic regulatory cooperation : the shifting rules of the EU, the US and California / David Vogel, Johan Swinnen, Johan, Edward Elgar, 2011
Legal guidelines for cooperation between the EU and American state governments / Daniel Farber — Transatlantic environmental regulation-making : strengthening cooperation between California and the EU / Christina G. Hioureas and Bruce E. Cain — California motor vehicle standards and federalism : lessons for the EU / Ann E. Carlson — Rivers of diversity : water regulation in California and the EU / Gabrielle Bouleau and Matt Kondolf — Reshaping chemicals policy on two sides of the Atlantic : the promise of improved sustainability through international collaboration / Megan R. Schwarzman and Michael P. Wilson — Climate change policy in California : balancing markets versus regulation / Michael Hanemann and Chris Busch — US versus EU biotechnology regulations and comparative advantage : implications for future conflicts and trade / Gal Hochman, Gordon C. Rausser and David Zilberman — Circuits of regulation : transatlantic perspectives on persistent organic pollutants and endocrine disrupting chemicals / Chris Ansell and Jörg Balsiger — How to get out of the transatlantic regulatory deadlock over genetically modified organisms? / Alberto Alemanno — Food labels and the environment : towards harmonization of EU and US organic standards / David E. Winickoff and Kendra Klein — EU-US horizontal regulatory cooperation : mutual recognition of impact assessment? / Anne C. M. Meuwese — Transatlantic regulatory cooperation : conclusions and implications / Axel Marx and Jan Wouters — Lessons learned and suggestions for improving regulatory cooperation between California and the EU / Ian Clark
Scientific articles
The New Politics of Interdependence : Cross-National Layering in Trans-Atlantic Regulatory Disputes / Henry Farrell, Abraham Newman, George Washington University & Georgetown University, Comparative Political Studies March 2015 vol. 48 no. 4 , pp. 497-526
Improving International Regulatory Cooperation: TTIP as a Step Toward a Global Policy Laboratory / Jonathan Wiener & Alberto Alemanno, Law & Contemporary Problems Volume / Issue 78 2015
Trade agreements and international regulatory cooperation in a supply chain world / Bernard Hoekmanmm, EUI RSCAS; Global Governance Programme series-154, 2015
International Organizations and International Regulatory Cooperation: Exploring the Links / Kenneth W. Abbott, Arizona State University, November 30, 2014
Global Free Trade in the 21st Century / Polly Botsford, IBA Global Insight, Vol. 68 (2014) No. 4 pp. 16
On the Use of Law in Transatlantic Relations: Legal Dialogues between the EU and US / Elaine Fahey, European Law Journal, Volume 20, Issue 3, pages 368–384, May 2014
Negotiating regulatory coherence : the costs and consequences of disparate regulatory principles in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment partnership between the US and the EU / T. Sandra Fung, Cornell International Law Journal, Vol. 47 (2014) Spring pp. 445-470
Trade, the Precautionary Principle, and Post-Modern Regulatory Process: Regulatory Convergence in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership / Lucas Bergkamp, Lawrence A. Kogan, European Journal of Risk Regulation 4/2013, pp. 493-507
The Challenge of Cooperation : Regulatory Trade Barriers in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership / Simon Lester and Inu Barbee, Journal of international economic law, 2013, v. 16, n. 4, p. 847-867
Regulatory Cooperation for Trade in Services in the EU and US Trade Agreements with the Republic of Korea: How Deep and How Compatible? / Eugenia Costanza Laurenza, Melbourne Journal of International Law Vol. 14 (2013) June, pp. 171
The Reality of Precaution: Comparing Risk Regulation in the US and Europe ~ and ~ The Global Diffusion of Regulatory Oversight / Jonathan B. Wiener Perkins Professor of Law, Environmental Policy, and Public Policy, Duke University at Recalibrating Behavior: Smarter Regulation in a Global World” Victoria University, Wellington NZ 23-24 April 2013
Enhanced Regulatory Cooperation in the Canada : EU Comprehensive Trade Agreement / Stanko S. Krstic, Legal issues of economic integration 2012, v. 39, n. 1
Filed under: International Relations, PUBLICATIONS Tagged: free trade agreements, Jan Baeverstroem, keysources, Online publications, transatlantic relations, Transatlantic trade agreement, TTIP, USA 
