[Music]
As you can tell by the number of iPhones in
Italy, and the number of Fiats in California,
trade between the United States and the European Union is increasingly important.
Today, the exchange of goods across the Atlantic makes
up a significant part of the global economy.
But how is this trade made possible?
Although the EU and the United States have put
a lot of energy into decreasing barriers to trade,
there is still significant hurdles preventing the free exchange of goods.
What are those hurdles?
And why are they there?
What role do lawmakers in Europe and
the United States have in creating these barriers?
And what can we do to take them down? One form of a barrier is a tariff or
a tax.
Another is called a non-tariff barrier or an NTB.
Unlike a tariff, non-tariff barriers may not be intended to prevent or limit trade.
Rather, the effect on trade may be
the unintended consequence of other policies or regulations.
For example, when a car is produced in the United States or in Europe, it
has to go through extensive tests before it can be sold on the domestic market.
These tests ensure that the car complies with certain domestic
safety standards.
To complete these tests, the car company
will crash a car with plastic crash dummies
in the seats and then examine the effect of the crash on those dummies.
However, the speed the car is going in the test crash is different
in the United States and Europe, as is the size of the dummies used.
This means that a car company has to duplicate
the safety tests, which takes both time and money.
However, in the end, both tests are asking
the same question; Is the car safe enough to drive?
Although the tests have different requirements, the answer to that
question is likely to be the same, yes or no.
The different test requirements may not add to the safety
of the product, but they certainly take time and money.
In another example, the color of rear blinker
lights in the U.S. and Europe is different.
This means that German car makers like BMW or Audi.
Have to produce different cars
for sale in the U.S. Adding to the expense of production.
>> Some of the differences between the U.S. and Europe are small.
Some are much more significant, and reflect key differences in public opinion.
For example, the U.S. has more demanding standards
regarding the use of genetically modified ingredients in food.
Any product that is more than 0.9% GMO ingredients.
Must be labeled as such. The
U.S. has no labeling requirements.
That means that a food product from the
U.S. either needs different labeling, or different ingredients.
However, unlike the color of rear blinker lights, this
difference in requirements is based on public opinion and policy.
And any changes should perhaps be made with participation
of the citizens of Europe or the United States.
Can you think of any other examples of
non-tariff barriers to trade, either big or small?
What is TTIP?
These non-tariff barriers are major problems, so what can we do?
Here's where TTIP comes into play.
TTIP is an abbreviation for Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
A trade investment agreement currently under
negotiation between the world's two largest economies.
The United States and the European Union. The negotiations began in July
2013, and the third round of negotiations just ended in Washington
D.C. on December 20, 2013. So why does TTIP matter?
TTIP matters for a lot of reasons.
Basically what TTIP does, is to eliminate barriers to the
free movement of goods and services between the European Union and
the United States.
The European Union and the United States
trade goods and services worth two billion Euros.
So any measure to reduce barriers to
trade could result in significant economic benefits.
Such as economic growth and job creation.
According to the European commission, TTIP will boost the EU economy
by 120 billion euros, the US economy by 90 billion euros, and
the rest of the world by 100 billion euros every year.
This means that the TTIP my provide 545
euros to an average European household every year.
>> But TTIP is more than just numbers.
The European Union and the United States not only seek to reduce traditional
trade barriers, such as tariffs, but also
to reduce differences between the regulatory standards.
TTIP has the potential not
only to impact income, but also to influence technical regulatory
standards and approval procedures that directly matter to health and safety.
So, what do you think about TTIP?
More importantly, what do you think about the role
of legislators in deciding how TTIP should be implemented?
Do you think US Congressman or EU
parliamentarians should get the power to influence TTIP.
If so, in what way? What do you think?
In such a big change
to our regulatory system, what role will
the European Parliament and the U.S. Congress play?
TTIP has not been fully negotiated.
So, we don't know yet.
What do you think it should be?
As an example, an agreement between the United States and Canada,
through regional cooperation, the council kept the normal regulatory process in tact.
The agreement brought American and Canadian role makers together
to figure out how to harmonize and mutually recognize
each others regulations.
Then each side would voluntarily change
their own regulations through the normal process.
Would this model work for TTIP? What do you think it should be?
You elected these people to represent you.
Does that mean, you want them to decide which
regulations can be modified to make international trade easier?
Or do you think that the European Parliament
should focus on the mandate it already has.
To make regulations and directives focused on the EU.
>> Maybe a new body dedicated to examining regulatory
barriers to trade would have a more specialized expertise.
Or maybe, they would not care enough about the original purpose of the regulations.
What do you think?
Do you trust a European Parliament to do the right thing on this issue?
Why, or why not?
>> Thanks for watching our presentation.
Here are the questions we want you to answer.
>> Question one.
What are some examples of regulatory barriers to
trade that you think need to be fixed.
>> Question two.
Is TTIP a good idea? >> Question three.
What role do you want for the European Parliament?
>> Thank you. >> Thank you.