On Wednesday 3 December 2014, a successful event on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) took place in the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), in Brussels. It was organized with the objective of debating key issues, such as: its potential contribution to future jobs, the required regulatory convergence between the European Union and the United States, the potential clash of cultures and models that could imply, and the approach to the investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS).
The event was opened by the Rector of the College of Europe, Professor Jörg MONAR, who gave introductory remarks and presented the three speakers on the panel: Professor Pierre DEFRAIGNE, Executive Director of the Madariaga – College of Europe Foundation, former Deputy Director-General of DG Trade and Professor at the College of Europe; Professor Jacques PELKMANS, Senior Economic Research Fellow at CEPS and Professor at the College of Europe; and Mr Denis REDONNET, Head of Strategy Unit and member of the TTIP negotiating team of DG Trade. The debate was chaired by Mr Roderick ABBOTT, Senior Trade Adviser at the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE), former Deputy Director-General of DG Trade, European Commission and former Deputy Director-General at WTO.
With this complete panel, there was a variety of opinions both in favour and against the TTIP thanks to the well-informed speeches of the speakers but also through an active participation of the public. The lack of information about the negotiation process was brought up several times during the discussion. The counterargument was that it is very hard to share information about something that is not yet decided. Another key point raised was whether, instead, it would be the moment for the EU to focus its trade development on China, instead of focusing it towards the US, due to the great power China has at this moment in the international arena, and due to the fact that the US nowadays is also investing in its commercial relation with China. Both the panel and the public–composed of more than one hundred attendants–contributed to a successful debate, which was followed by a cocktail reception where the attendants had the opportunity to meet the College of Europe Development Office team.
The Development Office develops and manages the College of Europe’s Executive Education, tailor-made courses, e-learning, contract services, academic cooperation and research projects.
Read the Column of Professor Jacques PELKMANS on the TTIP (Development Office Newsletter)
More information on TTIP (CEPS):
- ‘The Impact of TTIP: The underlying economic model and comparisons’, Jacques PELKMANS, Arjan LEJOUR, Lorna SCHREFLER, Federica MUSTILLI, Jacopo TIMINI, October 2014.
- ‘Economic Incentives for Indirect TTIP Spillovers’, Arjan LEJOUR, Federica MUSTILLI, Jacques PELKMANS, Jacopo TIMINI, October 2014.