The Transatlantic Trade and investment Partnership (TTIP)

The expected effects of TTIP on the European automotive industry will be significant, but depend strongly on the scope of trade liberalisation. In the field of motor vehicles TTIP should go far beyond the degree of trade liberalization reached in previous trade agreements between the EU and other countries. Tariffs should be eliminated and also non-tariff barriers (NTBs) reduced. Regulatory cooperation to reduce NTBs is promising particularly in the automotive industry. Beside harmonisation, international standards and cooperation on new technologies, another promising approach is mutually recognition of aspects of regulation based on sound evidence of the equivalence of outcomes. However, the challenge is twofold: identifying unnecessarily trade distorting NTBs while at the same time respecting EU regulatory sovereignty, democratic legitimacy, and the high level of EU standards in passenger and environmental safety.