Стр. 10 - V

Author : B. Zaritsky
Professor, Department of Global Economy and International Business, Financial University of the Gov-
ernment of the Russian Federation, Doctor of Science (History)
THE 23RD OF OCTOBER 2015 was the final day of the 11th
round of negotiations between the European Union and the United
States on a proposed free trade treaty. The full name of the accord,
the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), reflects
its comprehensive character. The proposed agreement aims not only
to remove customs barriers but also to harmonize various regulatory
standards, protect investors, put restrictions on the use of subsidies,
provide foreign companies with equal access to government pro-
curement contracts, and solve a whole range of other sensitive
problems. TTIP may bring into being a mega-bloc that would ac-
count for a nearly 40% share of the gross world product and run
one-third of international trade.
What the Germans fear most about TTIP is that Europe would import from the United States
genetically modified food and meat from hormone-treated cattle.
Chancellor Angela Merkel is intensively lobbying for TTIP. She claims that Germany has no al-
ternative to joining the pact if it wants to remain one of the world leaders. Otherwise the Amer-
icans will move Europe down their foreign economic agenda and turn to Asia, she argues.
Germany's big business concurs. The country's main business association, the Federation of
German Industries (BDI), has repeatedly expressed support for TTIP and called for its earliest
possible signature. BDI president Ulrich Grillo never misses a chance to say that TTIP is Ger-
many's ticket into the future.
KEY GERMAN COMPANIES are self-confident and not afraid of the liberalization of foreign
trade rules.
The adjustment of German vehicles to American requirements such as technical and safety stan-
dards with all the tests and certification procedures that this involves also costs German exporters
handsome sums of money but, according to VDA calculations, not as much as customs duties
do. Regulatory harmonization would save German exporters as much as a 26% cut in today's
customs duties would, VDA claims.
In a study popular among opponents of TTIP, Jeronim Capaldo of Tufts University in Boston
warns that the agreement would inflict serious damage on European countries. Within the first
few decades after the signature of TTIP, GDP may shrink by 2.7% in Northern Europe, by 1.4%
in Germany, and by 0.95% in Britain, Capaldo estimates. About 600,000 jobs would be lost, and
exports and state revenues would undergo net decreases. American transnationals and major
U.S. market-oriented European corporations would be the main beneficiaries of TTIP, Capaldo
says.20
Электронное приложение к журналу «Международная жизнь»
Transatlantic Partnership Plan: Germany's Position