Compte Rendu (document en anglais)

Compte rendu

The document is an interview from The Independent of October 2014. It deals with the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.

This agreement between the European Union and the US would create a very important free-trade-zone although negotiations are still in progress. The goal of such an agreement is to remove all the barriers on goods and services.

The supporters of this new agreement say that the economy of both US and Europe would have a beneficial effect. The TTIP would encourage investment and create jobs.

At the other side, critics are less enthusiastic. They think that this agreement would take control over environmental standards, food safety, consumer protection and banking regulations, so countries would lose some of their influence.

Moreover, this agreement would bring another problem : the investor-state dispute settlement. Countries would be threatened again because it would allow multinational to take legal action against government if it thinks its business interests are in danger because of the government actions. Countries will no longer be immune.

To prevent this from happening ministers will ensure the right of the state to legislate in the public interest remain a priority.

Negotiations completed their latest round this month and the political will exist to strike an agreement that will preserve the rights of both sides.

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