Publication International / Transnational - Economic / Social Policy - Free Trade Free Trade as a Weapon in the Global Power Struggle

Beyond Chlorine Chickens and Arbitration Courts: The Political Goals Underpinning the Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement TTIP.

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Series

Policy Papers

Author

Stephan Kaufmann,

Published

January 2015

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Without doubt, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the US and the EU is a gigantic project. Whilst many point to the agreement’s risks and dangers, the competent institutions continue to drive the project on. This raises the question: Why do the EU and the US want TTIP at all? Put differently: Why do they willingly accept the agreement’s potential risks? The estimated impact on economic growth and job creation is small. Rather, cooperation between the EU, EU member states and the US is designed to strengthen their relative position in the global competition – not only economically but also in terms of political power. This, however, means that as a cooperation agreement between competitors, the project is also full of contradictions.

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