Reform Number 4 for a New Era: Less Naivete in European-American Negotiations

Published in L'Expansion
(France) on 14 September 2015
by Géraldine Meignan (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Katie Gibson. Edited by Joanna Kenney.
Faced with the Americans, European negotiators for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership must combine realism and transparency.

Rarely have international negotiations caused such debate. All euroskeptics — environmentalists, alter-globalists, separatists — rage against the implications of the vast free trade agreement, the TTIP, which the European Commission is negotiating with the United States.*

The original idea of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is to promote exchanges between the two sides of the Atlantic by standardizing norms that they say restrict trade, and to create a market of 820 million consumers. But discussions began two years ago, without anyone really knowing the precise mandate given by the Council to the European Commission. This lack of transparency, however, failed to shut down discussions.

Should Negotiations Be Suspended?

Since June, the National Security Agency wiretapping scandal has tainted the debates to such an extent that some, such as Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a French member of the European Parliament, and François Fillon, a former French prime minister, are asking if Europe has been too naive and whether it should have suspended negotiations. The ”empty chair” approach whereby a politician refuses to attend talks — so dear to the French since the time of President de Gaulle — would undoubtedly not resolve the problem and would also border on credulity, but moderate critics of the agreement would like to establish protective measures for consideration.

Each side has its desires and grievances. The Greens don't want to sacrifice environmental standards for a few extra commercial exchanges; the separatists reject the arbitrating courts' pro-business and anti-state perspective; and trade unions fear deregulation of European working rights in order to move closer to American standards. The European Union might believe there will be a win-win outcome with the United States, but it will not be without limitations.

*Editor’s note: Euroskeptic, also Eurosceptic, is a person opposed to increasing the powers of the European Union. Alter-globalization, also known as alternative globalization, is the name of a social movement whose proponents support global cooperation and interaction, but oppose what they describe as the negative effects of economic globalization.


Réforme n°4 pour changer d'ère: moins de naïveté dans les négociations Europe-Etats-Unis

Face aux Américains, les négociateurs européens du traité de libre-échange doivent conjuguer réalisme et transparence.

Rarement des négociations internationales auront suscité autant de polémiques. Tous les eurosceptiques - écolos, altermondialistes, souverainistes - se déchaînent contre les implications du vaste traité de libre-échange, le Tafta, que négocie la Commission européenne avec les Etats-Unis.

L'idée de départ du Partenariat transatlantique de commerce et d'investissement est pourtant de favoriser les échanges de part et d'autre de l'Atlantique en harmonisant les normes qui, dit-on, brident le commerce. Et de créer un marché de 820 millions de consommateurs. Mais les discussions ont commencé il y a deux ans, sans que l'on sache quel était le mandat précis donné par le Conseil à la Commission européenne. Ce manque de transparence a bien failli torpiller les discussions.

Faut-il suspendre les négociations?

Depuis juin, c'est le scandale des écoutes de l'agence américaine NSA qui vient polluer les débats. A tel point que certains, comme Jean-Luc Mélenchon ou François Fillon, se demandent si l'Europe n'a pas été trop naïve et si elle ne doit pas suspendre les négociations. La politique de la chaise vide - si chère aux Français depuis le général de Gaulle - ne résoudrait sans doute pas le problème et confine d'ailleurs aussi à une certaine crédulité, mais les "Tafta-critiques" modérés veulent instituer des garde-feu à prendre en considération.

A chaque sensibilité, ses prières et ses doléances. Les Verts ne veulent pas sacrifier des normes environnementales pour quelques échanges commerciaux de plus, les souverainistes rejettent la perspective de tribunaux arbitraux probusiness et anti-Etat, les milieux syndicaux redoutent une dérégulation du droit du travail des Européens pour se rapprocher des standards américains. L'Union européenne peut croire au gagnant-gagnant avec les Etats-Unis, mais sous condition.

This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

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