Commentary
Chris Brummer | New Atlanticist
The Atlantic Council’s C. Boyden Gray Fellow on Global Finance and Growth Dr. Chris Brummer, argues that TTIP offers a major opportunity to promote regulatory coherence and prevent arbitrage across the Atlantic in financial services. This opportunity should be seized. Instead of exempting finance from TTIP negotiations, transatlantic regulatory cooperation should be highlighted and encouraged.
Perhaps the last thing Democrats want to do, after all the hard work of getting the Dodd-Frank financial reform law through Congress, is to consider including financial services in upcoming trade talks with Europe. But it might be the best way to preserve the effectiveness of financial reforms.
Speeches and Announcements
Dutch Trade Minister Lilianne Ploumen Delivers Speech to Johns Hopkins SAIS
In an address last week at SAIS, Minister Ploumen argued forcefully for the rapid conclusion of a robust TTIP agreement. As economic power shifts globally, the US and EU as “natural allies on the opposite sides of the Atlantic,” need to respond to these new challenges by working together more effectively.
News
Snooping Claims Add New Complication to Tough EU-US Trade Talks | Financial Times
Set to begin in less than a week, TTIP negotiations were dealt another blow with the revelation of widespread spying by the US on its European allies. Brought to light by a Der Spiegel report, this fresh crisis has prompted EU officials in Brussels and leaders across Europe to call for assurances that this issue be resolved before any FTA negotiations begin in earnest.
Germany Says Cold War Tactics Don’t Help EU-US Trade Talks | Reuters
German Chancellor Angel Merkel’s chief spokesman Steffen Seibert had strong words for the US after the NSA eavesdropping scandal first publicized by Edward Snowden expanded to include EU government offices. “We are no longer in the Cold War,” he said, adding that the sought after free trade deal between Europe and the US might be in doubt if the “mutual trust necessary in order to come to an agreement” was not assured.
France, Finland Quarrel over EU-US Trade Amid Spying Charges | Bloomberg
While several countries expressed outrage over the recently-revealed extent of US spying on the European Union’s embassies and offices, several states which are traditional proponents of free trade—Finland and the Netherlands for example—tried to rally support among their counterparts to move on so negotiations could begin with the full backing of all EU member-states.
US Seeks to Calm European Outrage Over Alleged Spying | Reuters
While in Tanzania on Monday during his current trip across Africa, President Obama pledged to European leaders that his government would supply all requested information regarding the allegations that the NSA ‘bugged’ EU government offices. The President is hopeful that the recent leaks will not hamper the start of negotiations next Monday.
Transatlantic Free Trade: How Can We Restore Confidence After the Spying Revelations? | La Tribune
Underlining the severity of the scandal in France, Trade Minister Nicole Bricq emphasized that the US owes the European Union, and France in particular, a detailed explanation of the extent and reasons behind its spying program. Echoing her European counterparts, Minister Bricq called on the US government to rapidly explain itself ahead of the proposed start of negotiations next Monday in Washington. Text in French