In negotiation since July 2013, TAFTA, the Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (also known as TTIP, for Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) is a proposed trade agreement between the European Union and the United States of America that would affect, among other, access to medicine, food safety and establish a new investor-state dispute settlement mechanism. Negotiations, conducted by a small group of unelected officials, are likely to continue at least until the end of 2014.
Despite the rejection of the ACTA Trade Agreement in 2012 and calls of civil society, Members of the European Parliament voted to strengthen the protection of copyright, patent and trademarks in the European Commission’s negotiating mandate for TAFTA. Furthermore, MEPs did not oppose themselves to pursuing these negotiations in opacity, and failed to demand their freeze in strong reaction to the spying by the NSA of European negotiators.
These issues raise fears that the negotiators will take the opportunity represented by TAFTA to attempt to impose repressive measures in the name of protecting the interests of the entertainment industry, or other measures attacking our online freedom. From now until the end of negotiations it is essential that citizens make their voices heard and act to prevent that this new trade agreement undermines our fundamental freedom and a free and open Internet.
Reference documents
- Leaked version of July 2013
- TAFTA negotiation mandate
- European Parliament resolution on TAFTA
- Partial list of TAFTA negotiators (help us to complete it!)
- Investor-to-state Dispute Settlement: A Threat To Democracy
Other related documents are available on our wiki.
Analysis
- “IP out of TAFTA” (Civil Society Declaration)
- Booklet “TTIP and digital rights” (EDRi)
- A Brave New Transatlantic Partnership: the social & environmental consequences of the proposed EU-US trade deal (Seattle to Brussels Network)
- Unravelling the spin: a guide to corporate rights in the EU-US trade deal (Corporate Europe)
- European Officials Consulted Business Leaders on Trade Pact (NYTimes)
- Privacy is not a commodity to be traded (Privacy International)
- Busting the myths of transparency around the EU-US trade deal (Corporate Europe)
- Not Learning From ACTA: IPR Protection And Enforcement Seen As ‘Less Difficult Issue’ For TAFTA/TTIP (Tech Dirt)
- TAFTA, the US-EU’s Trojan Trade Agreement: Talks (and Leaks) Begin (EFF)
- European Commission preparing for EU-US trade talks: 119 meetings with industry lobbyists (Corporate Europe)
- UK Government Study Tries To Gloss Over TAFTA/TTIP’s Problems With Impossibly Precise Figures (Tech Dirt)
- “The Lobbyists’ Charter” prepared by EDRI
- Who lobbies most on Tafta? (CEO)
Other related analysis are available on our wiki.
TAFTA Procedure in the EU
- Negotiations between the European Commission and the United States until the conclusion of a proposed agreement
- Vote of the proposed agreement as a whole in European Parliament’s plenary session, after the committees’ recommendations
- Adoption of the decision on the conclusion of the Agreement by the European Union, which shall act unanimously
- Ratification at the national level
- TAFTA is enforced
Timeline
- 19-23 Septembre eleventh round of negotiations in Miami
- 13-17 July 2015 – tenth round of negotiations in Brussels
- 8-11 June 2015 – Plenary vote on report containing Parliament’s recommendations to the Commission on the TAFTA negotiations
- 20-24 April 2015 – ninth round of negotiations in Washington
- 28 May 2015 – INTA Committee vote on draft report containing Parliament’s recommendations to the Commission on the TAFTA negotiations
- 2-6 February 2015 – eighth round of negotiations in Brussels
- September 2014 – seventh round of negotiations in the USA
- 14-17 July 2014 – sixth round of negotiations in Brussels
- 13 July 2014 – Deadline for answer at the “Public consultation on modalities for investment protection and ISDS” in TAFTA
- 19-23 May 2014 – start of fifth round of negotiations in Arlington (Washington D.C.)
- 27 March 2014 – Launch of “Public consultation on modalities for investment protection and ISDS” in TAFTA
- 26 March 2014 – meeting between Herman Von Rompuy, Barack Obama and José Manuel Barroso in Brussels for the EU-US Summit
- 10-14 March 2014 – 4th round of negotiations in Brussels
- 27 February 2014 – Publication of a leaked version of TAFTA, by Zeit Online de TAFTA, dated of July 2013
- 17 February 2014 – meeting between Karel De Gucht and Mickael Froman
- 11 February – hearing in JURI Committee of the European Parliament on the “Regulatory coherence and the implementation of EU law” in the context of TAFTA
- 21 January 2014 – Announcement of the start of a public consultation on investor-state dispute settlement planned for March 2014
- 14 January 2014 – minutes of the last negotiations at Brussels
- 16-20 December 2013 – 3rd round of negotiations in Washington D.C.
- 11-16 November 2013 – 2nd round of negotiations in Brussels
- 8-12 July 2013 – 1st round of negotiations in Washington, D.C.
- 4 July 2013 – The Parliament failed to adopt a resolution calling for the postponement of the negotiations in reaction to the spying of EU negotiators by the USA
- 14 June 2013 – The Council approved a mandate for the negotiation of TAFTA
- 23 May 2013 – The European Parliament adopted the European Commission’s negotiating mandate
- 25 April 2013 – The “International Trade” (INTA) committee of the European Parliament vote on a resolution on TAFTA preparing the European Commission’s negotiating mandate
- 21 March 2013 – Publication of the civil society declaration “IP out of TAFTA”
- 13 February 2013 – Statement from Barack Obama, Herman Van Rompuy and José Manuel Barroso initiating the internal procedures necessary to launch negotiations on TAFTA
- 11 February 2013 – Publication of the recommendations from the High Level Working Group set up in 2011
- 7-8 February 2013 – The European Council approved a “comprehensive trade agreement”
- 28 November 2011 – The EU and the US set up a High Level Working Group on growth and employment, led by US Trade Representative Ron Kirk and EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht, to find solutions to the economic crisis