TTIP: costs and benefits for the EU and Italy

With the arrival of a new European Commission and following the mid-term elections to the US-Congress, the negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will move into a decisive stage. Over the coming year there will have to be results; either TTIP will be concluded as a minimal agreement focusing on the elimination of remaining tariff barriers, or a comprehensive agreement will be reached including norms and standards, procurement rules, and investment protection, or there will be no such agreement at all.

Meanwhile, a rather broad debate has developed in EU countries about the costs and benefits of a comprehensive agreement. Concerns have been raised from the perspective of particular sectors of the economy and from small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). In the political discourse and from NGOs, the transparency of the negotiation process has been criticised, in particular with regard to public goods and basic public services affected by an agreement. Also, the inclusion of investment protection schemes has become a controversial part of the debate.