Dangerous regulatory duet
The ongoing EU-US trade negotiations, TTIP, seek to bring rules on
both sides of the Atlantic together by means of so-called regulatory
cooperation. This part of the talks involves dismantling existing
“regulatory barriers” and preventing new ones from emerging with public
interest regulations having to go through lengthy procedures, including
vetting by business for possible impacts on trade. It has sparked
concerns that the trade deal will lead to attacks on environmental
protections, safety at work regulations, and laws to defend public
health and food safety– to name but a few. Our latest report finds that
regulatory cooperation procedures have already been used to delay, water
down and prevent legislation in the public interest. It thus confirms
this critique.
The report examines the origins and impacts of TTIP’s proposals for
regulatory cooperation and shows that the process has been dominated by
big business right from the start. The examples highlighted in the study
are the weakening of EU ambition on the management of hazardous
electronic waste, the lack of supervision of the insurance giant AIG in
the years leading up to the 2008 financial crash, the free pass offered
to US companies on the Safe Harbour agreement that allowed them to
ignore rules on the protection of personal data, and delayed or weakened
proposals on animal testing, ozone-depleting substances, and aviation
emissions.
The favoured approach of the EU - to ensure laws are similar on both
sides of the Atlantic - is exactly the kind of “regulatory cooperation”
that has already resulted in lower standards.
The TTIP talks between the two sides officially started in 2013, but
preparations for the deal have been ongoing for decades, largely in
secret and with privileged access granted to representatives from big
business. They cover a wide range of policy areas from chemicals
regulations to employment policy, data protection to agriculture and is
thus the biggest focal point for lobbying efforts right now in Brussels.
