‘The Transatlantic Colossus: Global Contributions to Broaden the Debate on the EU-US Free Trade Agreement’ (2014), a publication from the Berlin Forum on Global Politics in collaboration with the Internet & Society Collaboratory and FutureChallenges.org of the Bertelsmann Stiftung. http://futurechallenges.org/local/news/global-contributions-to-broaden-the-debate-on-the-eu-us-free-trade-agreement/

1. The Transatlantic Colussus
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)
Photo by Chamarisk http://www.flickr.com/photos/chamarisk/400421377 CC BYNC-SA 2.0
25th of January 2014
Ole Wintermann (@olewin)

2. THE
TRANSATLANTIC
COLOSSUS
EDITORS
Daniel Cardoso
Philani Mthembu
Marc Venhaus
Miguelángel Verde Garrido
Global Contributions To Broaden The Debate
On The EU-US FreeTrade Agreement
A COLLABORATION BETWEEN
Internet & Society
Co llaboratory
2

3. These slides are a summary of the publication „The
Transatlantic Colussus“. This brochure is a result of
joined action by Berlin Forum of Global Politics, Internet
und Gesellschaft Collaboratory and
futurechallenges.org.
Disclaimer
!
The slides 10-28 are short summaries of the articles
which are part of that brochure. Partly these are quotes
out of the articles. For further questions you can
contact the authors who are mentioned on every single
slide.

4. Living in a
democracy
means…
…taking all arguments in favor or against TTIP for
serious

5. „The Transatlantic Colussus: A first step
into a more reflected debate about TTIP
TTIP - a
perspective from
the civil society
1. Magazine Sprint and CfP
2. 50 Participants/experts
3. 25-45 yrs
4. About 90% from universities
5. German/International

6. 1. A Transatlantic Partnership with Ripples Across the Oceans:
What does Africa Stand to Gain or Lose?
2. The TAFTA | TTIP and Agriculture:
Making or Breaking the Tackling of Global Food and Environmental Challenges?
3. The TAFTA | TTIP and Treatment Access:
What does the Agreement Mean for Intellectual Property Rights over Essential Medicines?
Topics
4. TAFTA | TTIP:
New Dawn for Atlanticists, Sunset for Old Europe?
5. The Treatment of Non-Investment Interests in Investor-State
Disputes:
Challenges for the TAFTA | TTIP Negotiations
6. Why TAFTA│TTIP will not Live Up to its Promises
7. TAFTA | TTIP and TPP in Comparison:
Similar Interests, Unknown Outcomes

7. 8. Public Protests and FTA Negotiations with the United States:
Lessons for the TAFTA | TTIP
9. Counting on the American Public to Be Informed on the
TAFTA | TTIP Talks?
Don’t Hold Your Breath
10.Differences in Regulatory Approach between the EU and the US.
Topics
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and its Impact on Trade with Third
Countries
11.Tackling Regulatory Trade Barriers in the Transatlantic Trade and
Investment Partnership
12.The TAFTA | TTIP Agreement:
‘Old’ and Unsustainable?
13.Macroeconomic Effects of TAFTA | TTIP
14.Regimes Governing the Re-Use of Personal Data in the US and the EU:
A Primer on Mass Surveillance and Trade

8. 15.The Strategic implications of TAFTA | TTIP:
Will it Engage or Contain China?
16.The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership as a New Challenge to
Emerging Powers
A Divided Free Trade Order in the Making?
Topics
17.TAFTA | TTIP
No Thank You! That’s Not What a Transatlantic Partnership Means
18.Is TAFTA | TTIP a Race to the Bottom in Regulatory Standards?
The Case of Hormone-Treated Beef
19.Safeguarding Consumer Rights and Protection in the TAFTA| TTIP

9. !
!
Participation
Public Protests
Regulatory Trade Barriers
Information
Macroeconomic Effects
Environmental Challenges
Investor-State Disputes
!
Issue
Cluster
Pure Economics
TTIP and TPP
!
Consumer Perspectives
Geopolitical Aspects
Personal Data
China
Lack of Sustainability
Emerging Powers
Global Food
Third Countries
Hormone-Treated Beef
Old Europe
Essential Medicines
Africa
!
!

10. Negative effects on Africa to be expected
Especially in Africa TAFTA/ TTIP could have trade diversion effects.
Geopolitical
Aspects
Solutions?
- minimizing their vulnerability by expanding intra-african trade
- further regional integration plus expanding trade with emerging powers
- BRICS’ development cooperation across Africa provides new strategic
options

11. Regulation vs. East-European interests?
Third countries such as Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine and Morocco will soon
have Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreements (DCFTA) with the EU
Whereas the US requests from its FTA partners to implement WTO
commitments and respective domestic legislation, the EU’s precondition in
DCFTA negotiations is approximation of partner country’s trade related
legislation to that of the EU
Geopolitical
Aspects
The EU and US have different regulatory approaches to key areas covered by
FTAs such as sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures (SPS) or geographical
indications (GIs), which means that some US-originated products, such as
Californian champagne or mozzarella, face trade restrictions in the EU
Interestingly, the EU requests its DCFTA partners to apply the same
restrictions on US products
Unless the EU and US find a compromise on non-tariff barriers, the EU’s
DCFTA partners will be forced to introduce trade restrictions on some US
products once DCFTAs are implemented

12. TTIP only focused at quantitative growth
TAFTA/ TTIP will significantly intensify the economic cooperation and trade
between two of the most developed and powerful actors of the world
TTIP will modify the current political, but also economic scenario, and this in
of the context of worldwide climate change and the overconsumption of
natural resources
Geopolitical
Aspects
The question is, whether it can be guaranteed that the TTIP agreement will be
sustainable in the medium and long term also from an environmental point of
view – or will it be unsustainable by requiring more energy and resources and
contribute the future costs of climate change
The focus on creating jobs and economic growth is an existing risk if the
sustainable use of resources and energy and the local production doesn’t find
an equal frame in the TTIP agreement
Before any free trade agreement is signed, the true impact and consequences
in terms of emissions and pollution must be analyzed and evaluated
!
!
!

13. Negative effects at EU-integration
Currently the US is turning attention towards Asia-Pacific, the EU is
preoccupied with themselves – for Atlanticists is this a weakening of the
transatlantic relationship
Geopolitical
Aspects
- With TAFTA/ TTIP trade would be diverted from the intra-European area
towards more EU-US trade
- lower regulation is probably one result
- TTIP leads to a relative decline of traditional European integration to the
benefit of transatlantic integration
- especially economically strong member states would have fewer interests
in preserving the integrity of the EU

14. TTIP excludes China explicitly
A comparative perspective on TTIP, TPP and the EU-Japan agreement shows
that the trade agreements are unprecedented in their comprehensive
liberalization agenda
Geopolitical
Aspects
All agreements show similar economic goals and besides, all have in common
that they exclude China (World‘s 2nd largest economy) from their trade
strategy
Next negotiating rounds will show if this strategy of counterbalancing China‘s
growing influence in trade will be successful or if China has the pressure to
adapt some of the rules promoted by the EU and US

15. Which economic system should
rule the world in the end?
As China is moving up the supply chain, both the EU and the US have seen
their export shares declining in markets that they have traditionally
dominated
The TAFTA | TTIP can be seen as the economic pillar of Washington’s security
strategy addressing the challenge of a rising China
Geopolitical
Aspects
TTIP along with TPP has the vision of setting the norms of world trade in the
21st century and pressure China to open up its economy and limit the
support to State Owned Enterprises (SOEs)
Chinese elites view the TAFTA | TTIP both as an opportunity and as a threat:
- On the one hand, an exclusive agreement may force China to follow a
balancing strategy and form competitive regional trade blocks
- On the other hand, an open and transparent TAFTA | TTIP may well engage
Beijing to liberalize its economy, and seek to constructively reform rather
than expel the current liberal global order

16. TTIP a reactionary move
towards old bipolar thinking
Financial crises led both US and EU to the relative loss of their global economic
power – Simultaneously, the BRICS catched up with an impressive economic
growth and extended their influence in multinational organizations
Geopolitical
Aspects
Now, times seem dire enough for the old transatlantic partners to close the ranks
by creating the biggest preferential trade agreement ever: TAFTA/ TTIP has the
potential to become a game changer
TAFTA | TTIP offers a way to set up new rules and norms based on EU/US interests
that could no longer be carried through within the framework of the WTO
TAFTA | TTIP provides a strategy to contain the rise of China and other emerging
powers by manifesting a new trench system of global trade, undermining production
networks and diverting the flow of goods
In conclusion, TTIP is a reactionary move in the global geo-economic game and a
warning that our world might become more divided than united
TTIP is merely working as a brake for the ongoing process by buying some
additional time for the West to prolong its global preeminence
!
!

17. Economic growth but
ambiguous 3rd country results
According to a purely macroeconomic perspective, a comprehensive free trade
agreement between the US and EU is beneficial for both parties
The removal of barriers of trade reduces the costs of trade activities between the
contracting economies
!
Pure Economics
Although different model calculations arrive at different quantitative conclusions, all
calculations share the assessment that TTIP will increase real gross domestic
product and employment in the US and in the EU
Estimates about the economic consequences for third countries are ambiguous:
!
On one side, intensified trade links between the US and the EU take place at the
costs of growth and employment in the rest of the world
!
Otherwise, negative impacts could be compensated by a global growth impulse
generated by TAFTA | TTIP
Now it is not possible to decide which scenario is more likely. This questions can be
answered in another 10 to 20 years
!
!
!

18. Risk of undemocratic arbitration
claims in a democratic system
!
Pure Economics
!
!
Investment claims brought by investors have dramatically altered perceptions
of investment law and provoked criticisms of democratic deficit inherent in
this regime
The TTIP-negotiations risk producing an unintended, costly and undemocratic
burden on EU member states who may become a target for arbitration claims
The occasion of the TAFTA | TTIP negotiations might however provide an
opportunity to address such criticisms, and to effect much needed changes in
ISDS

19. Regulation: Race to the Bottom?
!
Pure Economics
!
!
A critical deconstruction of the argumentation in favor of the agreement
shows that benefits could only be achieved if the agreement succeeded in
harmonizing a large share of divergent EU-US standards
But this agreement won‘t set global standards but leads to deregulation and
has only bilateral advantages – third countries are excluded

20. Participation: 2 sides of a coin
!
While former EU FTA-negotiations didn’t receive a lot of attention, trade
negotiations with the US are often accompanied by massive public protests in
the partner countries
!
Public protests can tie the hands of the national government in negotiations,
in particular, if the protests come from their own constituency.
Participation
While secret negotiations between the state actors assure a sufficient room
for bargaining to achieve an agreement, an open consultation and inclusion of
civil society lowers the intensity of possible social conflicts which could
hinder cooperation
Besides, civic participation increases the legitimacy of an agreement at
national level and leads to better mutual understanding at the international
level
!

21. Media have to bring light into
that elitist debate
!
Generally the US media is covering a one-dimensional, matter-of-fact report –
a deeper problematization of the topic is missing
!
When the TAFTA | TTIP does receive press coverage, elite sources will be
primarily referenced and mainstream media outlets and journalists will favor
elite framing
Participation
For covering the public interest, some aims of the media must be to:
1) Explain the agenda in terms of domestic policy and possible precedents
2) Craft a narrative geared towards the media’s personification and
dramatization biases
3) Present an easily recognizable and authoritative affiliation

22. TTIP guarantees pharmaceutic
business model
New opportunities for the pharmaceutical lobby have been created through:
- increased proliferation of regionally based regimes for trade/investment
liberalization
Consumer
Perspectives
- reduced standards for what counts as a “new” invention
- facilitating evergreening of patents
- effectively extended patent terms beyond the period designated in the
TRIPS
- data exclusivity rules
- limited ability to challenge patent applications

23. Unclear impact on global
agriculture remains
The recently commenced TTIP-negotiations are likely to have an impact on
transatlantic and global agricultural and environmental regulation
Consumer
Perspectives
- A global trade regime that is able to face the pressing food and
environmental challenges depends on whether the two global players are able
to arrive at concerted efforts
- Whatever the outcome will be, it is unlikely to significantly contribute to
global challenges of environmental sustainability

24. TTIP maybe a starting point for
regulatory cooperation
The emphasis on tackling the trade barriers has generated some excitement,
with large figures being thrown around as estimates of the resulting economic
gains
Consumer
Perspectives
But regulatory divergence like in the area of Genetically Modified Food
(GMO) worries EU citizens.
While some claims of potential benefits are overstated, this does not mean
that facilitating regulatory cooperation is not worthwhile
TTIP offers a good starting point for regulatory cooperation on a multilateral
basis
Negotiators should put 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

25. EU should use TTIP negotiations for
better data protection
A difficulty of TAFTA/ TTIP are the differences in the regimes of the trading
partners: Whereas the international trade regime is an EU competence, the
national security is not
As for the re-use of personal data, some of that data is processed in ways
relating to trade such as airline records and financial data
Consumer
Perspectives
Other ways of re-using personal data, though, concern national security in EU
member states, and hence cannot be part of TTIP negotiations
Moreover the Snowden revelations threatened to derail the TTIP negotiations
before they even started
Strategically, it will matter whether the EU or the US has the stronger
interest in concluding an agreement. Business interests in America may be
pushing for trade policy to trump EU data protection
If the Americans are not willing to compromise, the Europeans might find that
a trade agreement is not the venue with the best chances of success
regarding data protection

26. !
TTIP is an indicator for old style
pure economic thinking
TAFTA | TTIP does not provide answers to many important questions:
- How do we want to live?
Consumer
Perspectives
- What is a ‘good life’, without the exploitation of people, animals and the
environment?
- How can we work within the planet’s natural limits and guarantee good,
fairly paid work?
- How can we achieve food sovereignty for everyone?
The society needs more economic solidarity, protection of smallholders, and
an economy and agriculture orientated towards the common good, in times
of environmental, economic and social crisis
Besides, there is a need of effective consumer and data protection and
protection against the financial interests of international corporations

27. TTIP fosters unsustainable
cattle breeding
US beef that has been treated with growth hormones is an example that
shows what threats a potential lowering of standards could entail, while
government and corporations work out a deal over the consumers’ heads
Consumer
Perspectives
Sex hormones are injected into the cattle to promote faster growth – since
farmers are paid for the weight of the animal, hormones are good for their
profit
Hormone practices are prohibited since 2003 in the EU, as the hormones
have tumour-promoting effects
Aside from the threat hormones could pose to humans, one has to also keep
in mind that an accelerated growth and increase of cattle is means also an
increase in CO2-Emissions

28. TTIP jeopardizes consumer rights
Core consumers policy areas in the negotiations concern:
- food production and agriculture,
- data protection,
- intellectual property rights,
- financial services,
Consumer
Perspectives
- medical devices,
- environmental and chemicals regulation
Consumers on both sides of the Atlantic risk losses of existing protective
measures
The negotiation process has been characterized by a lack of transparency and
the lack of inclusion of civil society
In these areas, the US and the EU apply very different standards as their
regulatory approaches, while governmental objectives are often contradictory
There is a real risk that longstanding and absolutely necessary safeguards will
be declared trade obstacles and consequently lowered

29. TTIP means
Quantitative growth instead of qualitative growth
„Free Trade“ based on offline thinking models
Elitist decision making instead of modern participation
Trying to
summarize
Corporate interests instead of consumer rights
Bilateralism in times of inclusiveness and globalization
Politics of power in times of upcoming „One World“ generation
Mistrust against globalization as a pre-condition for social justice
Rebirth of deregulation hype
Materialism instead of inclusive growth
!
It doesn´t matter if all that is true, it matters that this is the perception

30. Solution
!
Redefined Free Trade
in an online world
Refocussing
at democratic
values
Transparency
no classified docs
Participation
online feedback platform
Surveys
asking consumers for their preferences