Events

The German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Brussels, Belgium.

On June 17, 2013, the U.S. and the European Union formally announced the start of negotiations on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The ambitious and comprehensive deal seeks to eliminate remaining existing tariffs between the EU and the U.S., but also to eliminate non-tariff barriers, and work towards common or mutually recognized standards and regulations. While the original goal of completing the agreement by the end of 2014 is unlikely, late 2015-early 2016 seem to stand out as more realistic timeframes for its completion and beginning of implementation. But TTIP should not only be considered as a purely bilateral instrument. It seeks indeed to set the global standard for future trade and investment relations. The very prospect of TTIP is therefore raising a number of interrogations outside the U.S. and Europe; it resonates far beyond the transatlantic economic relationship. Countries in the South Atlantic, in particular, are left wondering what the deal would mean for them, and what could be the direct implications of a greater integration of the North Atlantic economy on their own prospect for economic prosperity.

If it succeeds, how will TTIP affect the political economy of trade relations in the Atlantic? What will be its impact on existing and future economic relations with other global partners, especially in the South Atlantic? How have non-party states reacted to the TTIP negotiations? What is the political and economic impact of TTIP on ongoing bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations such as the Economic Partnership Agreements with African, Caribbean, and Pacific regions; the EU-Mercosur negotiations; and in the framework of the WTO? More broadly, what are the implications of mega-regional trade deals for the multilateral trading system? 

Welcoming Remarks
Ian O. Lesser, Senior Director, Foreign and Security Policy; Executive Director, Brussels Office, German Marshall Fund of the United States

Comments
Serguei Outtara, President & Executive Manager, EU-Africa Chamber of Commerce

Speakers
Peter Draper, Senior Research Fellow, Economic Diplomacy Program, South African Institute of International Affairs
Dan Hamilton, Executive Director, Johns Hopkins University, School for Advanced International Studies
Len Ishmael, Ambassador, Embassy of Eastern Caribbean States

Moderator
Guillaume Xavier-Bender, Transatlantic Fellow, German Marshall Fund of the United States

- See more at: http://www.gmfus.org/archives/shifting-patterns-of-trade-ttip-and-the-south-atlantic/#sthash.NN41Udc9.dpuf