Since the first draft of the agreement or transatlantic partnership for trade and investment between the US and the EU (better known by its acronym, TTIP, and its English name, Transatlantic Trade and Investment) was leaked in March 2014 Partnership) contradictory information, half-truths and misinformation are rampant. All the alarms seem to have gone off. Rarely have acronyms, which only a few insiders know what they correspond to, have aroused so much visceral criticism from relevant social sectors. Catastrophic messages about the triumph of multinationals against states and the market against democracy crowd the most militant websites to make their cries heard. The rest of the social agents, political parties installed in the system, companies or social organizations of a more local nature, remain inactive and, surely, in ignorance.
Simplifying surely too much, the TTIP arose with the sole purpose of liberalizing trade between the US and the EU. Therefore, he talks about the elimination of the few remaining tariffs and, above all, the suppression of non-tariff barriers (homogenization of legislation and deregulation). In short, the fear of many comes from the fact that the market will end up being reinforced as a sacrosanct institution that must govern the future of the world economy and, therefore, of our society. The alarms have gone off after the leak of some drafts due to the apparent absence of limits to the power of large corporations or the prevalence of their interests in the face of local regulations on sensitive issues such as the trade of transgenics or fracking or in issues of a social nature related, for example, to labor rights.
The difficulties of reaching an agreement come precisely because the EU is not the US. Despite the prevailing Merkelism tinged with liberalism, Europe is based on other values and it is the citizens that are above the market and that govern their interests. Those who are negotiating know it and even surely share it. But the big corporate lobbies are up to something and the American seal is very strong. We will see how this top-secret process ends (why so much obscurantism?) and if in the end a free trade agreement for a free society is achieved. And not a free trade agreement for a society subject to interests different from those that drive the European project: full democracy, free citizenship.
We leave you an informative video on the subject (from opposing sectors, eh!; there are many other channels on the net to disseminate the supposed benefits)