TTIP leak favorable to EU

Secret documents of the TTIP negotiations have been leaked by Greenpeace Netherlands. What does this mean for the negotiations? Univers spoke to Anne Meuwese, professor of European and comparative public law.

“We now have more insights into what the United States want. What we already knew was the negotiating position of the European Commission. That is because the negotiating texts the Commission contributes are placed online after each round of talks. The documents Greenpeace has leaked are consolidated texts. In these texts, the proposals of the European Union and those of the United States are side by side. This is the first time we have had an insight in the counterproposals of the US. And they do show that the positions of the US and the EU are quite far apart on many counts.”

How will this leak influence the negotiations?

“It is favorable to the EU that this has happened now. Since the positions of both parties are rather far apart, you can tell that the European Commission has not lied, and has really tried to protect European standards. That aids the EU’s negotiating position. This is also the first time we have seen exactly what the US wants. The US never wanted to make that known, because it is bad for their negotiating position. Now they can be held accountable for it. In that sense, this leak is worse for America than for the EU.”

How likely is it that the TTIP treaty will eventually be approved by all parties?

“I think the odds are higher for TTIP to be cut down than for it to be introduced. Although I can’t predict the future, of course. First we will have to see if a text will be written at all. Governments on both sides really do want the treaty, though. The familiar geopolitical argument for this is that it is better to form a transatlantic bloc together and have a stronger position against the rest of the world. If, for some products, that means that they have been produced by American standards, that may be a price worth paying. But the question is whether the agreements that’ll make a difference to trade are things that the EU can even promise under pressure of the public opinion.” People fear, for example, that food safety in Europe is at issue if the treaty were to be introduced.

Univers spoke with Anne Meuwese about the TTIP treaty before. You can read that interview here.

Fun fact: Greenpeace Netherlands has had to retype all leaked documents. For in the original documents, deliberate spelling errors were made in order to be able to trace a possible leak

Door Eva Witte

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