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Private Rule-Making in the TTIP: The Role of Standard Setting

Michelle Egan

In her piece “Private Rule-Making in the TTIP: The Role of Standard Setting,” Global Europe Fellow Michelle Egan discusses the regulatory differences in American and European trade standards. Egan breaks down regulatory mechanisms in both the EU and US, and analyzes potential points of tension in future rounds of negotiations.

In her piece “Private Rule-Making in the TTIP: The Role of Standard Setting,” Global Europe Fellow Michelle Egan discusses the regulatory differences in American and European trade standards. Egan breaks down regulatory mechanisms in both the EU and US, and analyzes potential points of tension in future rounds of negotiations. She argues that, differences in the two systems do increase trade costs and complicate matters for American and European traders alike. Therefore, the goal is create a new system that promotes regulatory cooperation. She offers four important points that need to be addressed in negotiations. Egan concludes that the EU and the US must go beyond their “entrenched positions” and embrace best practices.

This essay was prepared as part of a special Cato online forum on “The Economics, Geopolitics, and Architecture of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.”

Read the full piece here.

About the Author

Michelle Egan

Michelle Egan

Global Fellow, Global Europe Program;
Professor and Jean Monnet Chair ad personam, School of International Service, American University
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Global Europe Program

The Global Europe Program addresses vital issues affecting the European continent, US-European relations, and Europe’s ties with the rest of the world. We investigate European approaches to critical global issues: digital transformation, climate, migration, global governance. We also examine Europe’s relations with Russia and Eurasia, China and the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. Our program activities cover a wide range of topics, from the role of NATO, the European Union and the OSCE to European energy security, trade disputes, challenges to democracy, and counter-terrorism. The Global Europe Program’s staff, scholars-in-residence, and Global Fellows participate in seminars, policy study groups, and international conferences to provide analytical recommendations to policy makers and the media.  Read more