Some Little Things You Should Know About TTIP
Dr. Reinhold Festge, president of the German Engineering Association, writes for EurActiv to underline that TTIP is about setting global standards together across the Atlantic rather than lowering safety provisions on either side of the Ocean. Using the example of small and medium-sized engineering enterprises in Germany, and the ludicrous example of having the same cables or wires mandated to be blue or white depending on the continent, he makes a strong case for progress towards TTIP. (EurActiv)

 Speeches and Official Announcements

US Secretary of State John Kerry uses Asia-Pacific Visit to Redouble Focus on Region
Secretary of State John Kerry spoke last week in Hawaii about the importance of cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. Secretary Kerry spoke about four key opportunities: sustainable economic growth, a clean energy revolution, regional cooperation, and empowering people. These come in partnership with TPP negotiations, and discussed the importance of economic dialogue. (Australia Network News)
His speech is available in full here.

News

EU Dredgers Hope TTIP Can Skirt ‘Jones Act’ Barriers, but Face Hurdles
The European dredging industry is hoping to remove legal restrictions that inhibit their ability to service the US market through TTIP; however, the Jones Act is likely to cause their plan to run into at least two major hurdles. These barriers are the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, and the large body of laws that aim to protect domestic maritime service suppliers. USTR has also assured Congress that the Jones Act will be protected in future trade agreements. (Inside Trade)

Turkish Government Working on FTA with US
Turkey is currently in the process of negotiating a free trade agreement with the US, as it is seen as a necessary prerequisite to avoiding negative externalities for the Turkish market should TTIP open the transatlantic market first. The US, EU, and Turkey are scheduled to meet in either Brussels or Istanbul next month to discuss these issues. (Daily Sabah)

Japan-US Auto Talks Leave TPP Spinning its Wheels
Japan and the US met on Thursday regarding TPP and market access issues in the automotive sector, and while both sides claim progress had been made, the two countries left without making any major changes in their positions. The two countries will continue to negotiate and future dates, and US-Japanese progress has huge implications for the broader TPP agreement. (Japan Times)

Possibility of ‘Brexit’ Threatens London’s Prospects
Dublin is becoming a natural destination for much of the City of London’s financial sector if the UK exits the EU. London is home to more than 250 foreign banks, and is thus quite concerned that if the UK exits the EU, the financial services industry will be harmed. In the meantime, these major banks are equally concerned about the implications of the forthcoming Eurozone banking union. (Financial Times)

Draghi is Running out of Legal Ways to Fix the Euro
The European Central Bank, headed by Mario Draghi, is continually failing to meet inflation targets, due largely to its unwillingness to intervene in currency markets or lower interest rates. Wolfgang Munchau, writer of this opinion piece, believes that the ECB will continue to see the lack of structural reform at the state level as the major problem behind recovery, and as a result, will lead to countries to consider leaving the monetary union in order to escape this deflation trap. (Financial Times)

Recent Analysis

What the leaked EU-Canada Trade Paper means for TTIP
In his article, Benjamin Fox draws a comparison between CETA between Canada and the EU and TTIP, finding that although large parts of the two agreements will be the same, two major differences exist. The first one concerns the conduct of the negotiations of TTIP, which, through the pressure of the public and the EU Ombudsman will have to be more transparent than in CETA. The second major difference concerns the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) which the author believes will be excluded from TTIP, leading to the author’s conclusion that TTIP is “too big, too important, and too political” to be treated the same as other trade deals. (EUObserver)

Voice of Business | Committed to a Trade Agreement with the US
A former diplomat at the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Peter Thagesen writes about international trade policy seen from a Danish business perspective. He regrets the recent public outcry about TTIP, and warns that both the public and policymakers should not lose sight of the bigger picture. For him, companies and employees will both benefit significantly from the agreement, and makes a strong case to push the negotiations forward in its seventh round of negotiations this September. (The Copenhagen Post)

Now it’s Jamie Oliver Arguing against the EU-US Trade Deal
In his opinion piece, Tim Worstall, contributor to Forbes Magazine, addresses the recent public debate on the allegedly negative effects of TTIP on consumer standards, food safety and democratic principles. His article is a response to a campaign by Jamie Oliver, a British celebrity chef who recently spoke out against the alleged lowering of British food standards. Worstall claims that the debate mainly originates in the differences between US and EU regulatory foundations with regards to food safety; whilst the EU employs the precautionary principle, the US favors the risk assessment approach. Instead, Worstall suggests refocusing on Adam Smith’s principle of comparative advantage and reminds readers that TTIP is not about lowering food safety standards in any event. (Forbes)

The Greatest Threat is the Destruction of Global Ties that Bind
In his Financial Times column, John Plender evaluates how recent geopolitical tensions pose a threat to the infrastructure of globalization and how they damage economic recovery. He talks about a gradual erosion of confidence in the infrastructure of globalization and argues that it could eventually lead to an impediment to growth and a series of negative demand shocks–something that the global economy is not currently well-prepared for. His article shows how important initiatives like TTIP and TPP are to continuing the successful economic order of global interdependence. (Financial Times)

Europe’s Greater Depression is worse than the 1930s
In this opinion piece, the author claims that Europe finds itself in deeper recession that it has been experiencing in the 1930’s, comparing it to the Japanese recession of the 1990s. The reason for this ‘greater depression’ is to be found in too much fiscal austerity and the belief that the euro is some kind of ‘gold standard with moral authority’ which represents and defends civilization for many Europeans. The only solution is to give up on this sentiment and allow for inflation through monetary stimulus. (The Washington Post)

If you are interested in more detailed expert reviews on this topic, Bruegel, a European think tank specializing in economics, published a blog entry on “the Forever Recession” in Europe.

Upcoming Events

Seventh Round of TTIP Negotiations – September 29 – October 3 in Washington DC – a political stock-taking between Ambassador Froman and Commissioner De Gucht will follow the talks on October 13.

EU Policy Agenda for Social Enterprise: What Next? – September 3 in Brussels; hosted by the European Economic and Social Committee – More Information

Resolving Cross-Border Internet Policy Conflicts – September 9 in Washington DC; hosted by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation – More Information

Discover Global Markets: Free Trade Agreement Countries – September 9 -10 in Detroit, MI, hosted by the US Commercial Service – More Information

Jobs and Economic Growth for Atlanta: How TTIP Will Help – September 10 in Atlanta, GA; hosted by the Trans-Atlantic Business Council – More Information

TTIP Road Show, Edinburgh, Scotland: The US-EU Trade Negotiations and the Coalition for Transatlantic Business – September 23 in Edinburgh, Scotland; hosted by British American Business – More Information

Breakfast Briefing on the European Banking Union – September 23 in New York, NY; hosted by the European-American Chamber of Commerce – More Information

Jobs and Economic Growth for Indianapolis: How TTIP Will Help – September 26 in Indianapolis; hosted by the Trans-Atlantic Business Council – More Information

Launch of new Atlantic Council Publication on TTIP’s Benefits for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises – October 9 – More Information forthcoming

AmCham EU’s 31st Annual Competition Policy Conference – October 14 in Brussels – More Information

Annual Transatlantic Digital Economy Conference – October 16 in Brussels; hosted by AmCham EU – More Information forthcoming