Brussels, 02/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - A number of professional organisations from the services, banking and insurance sectors on both sides of the Atlantic have called for an agreement covering financial services market access and establishing a financial services regulatory cooperation mechanism, when the TTIP talks (8th round) resume in Brussels, 2-6 February.
“The European Union and the United States are the world's largest financial markets with a deep and long-standing degree of mutual interconnectedness. Addressing financial services holistically in TTIP would increase the efficiency of the transatlantic financial markets, facilitate trade and investment, and reduce costs for market players. These outcomes ultimately benefit consumers, investors and EU and US society at large”, argue the signatories of the call, which include Insurance Europe, European Services Forum, Coalition of Services Industries, The CityUK, American Insurance Association, European Banking Federation, AFME, SIFMA, the US Chamber of Commerce and European employers' association BusinessEurope.
“We believe that the agreement should address regulatory divergences that may create discriminatory barriers to trade and investment at any level. Moreover, it should also include an ambitious chapter on financial regulatory cooperation between the two jurisdictions, without discriminating against appropriately regulated third countries. This would in turn create a positive benchmark for future trade and investment negotiations”, states the joint communication. “The TTIP offers a crucial opportunity to build on the existing bilateral regulatory dialogues by creating long-standing structures for stronger and consistent regulatory cooperation and, where appropriate, mutual recognition. In this respect, we believe that a financial services chapter in the TTIP would enhance coherence and clarity of the respective rules of both jurisdictions, and improve the efficiency and timeliness of the implementation of cross-border regulation”, it goes on.
In a separate press release, BusinessEurope says it expects “a real fresh start in 2015”, and it calls for discussion of “everything” from tariffs to intellectual property rights and public procurement and regulatory cooperation. It calls for ambition in topics like financial services regulation and energy.
Car sector's united stance. Noting that “auto trade already represents 10% of EU-US trade”, European and American car constructors' associations - ACEA, AAPC and Auto Alliance - call for tariff and non-tariff barriers to be removed through the TTIP. “We believe this can happen without lowering the high safety and environmental standards we have in both the US and the EU”, states the ACEA in a press release. “Manufacturers currently face unnecessary redesign and redevelopment costs to produce cars for export to the US in order to meet safety standards which differ to those in the EU. This does not add additional safety protection. Where EU and US standards are, in their outcomes, effectively equivalent, we should be able to agree on mutual recognition. For future regulations, we should aim for harmonisation and encourage regulators to work more closely together to find common solutions”, argues ACEA Secretary General Erik Jonnaert.
Concerns from European universities. The European University Association (EUA) fears the impact of the TTIP talks (along with negotiations on an agreement on services, TiSA) on the objectives set by European countries in higher education. The EUA is concerned that regional and local authorities will be hampered in their decision-making on higher education, despite Commission promises to protect public services in these negotiations. The hybrid nature (public and private) of investment in some higher education systems mean that TTIP and TiSA cannot be conducted with legal certainty and clarity. The EUA therefore calls on the EU to make no commitments in higher and adult education in the negotiations. (EH, with MD and IL)