Davor Jancic on the Roles of the US and EU Legislatures in Shaping Transatlantic Interactions

Network member Davor Jancic (T.M.C. Asser Institute) has recently published two articles on transatlantic relations, TTIP, regulatory cooperation, extraterritoriality, and the roles of the European Parliament and the US Congress.  The first article is published in the Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies, entitled “Transatlantic Regulatory Interdependence, Law and Governance: The Evolving Roles of the EU and US Legislatures” and freely accessible until February 2016. The second has just been released in Early View with the Journal of Common Market Studies, entitled “The Role of the European Parliament and the US Congress in Shaping Transatlantic Relations: TTIP, NSA Surveillance and CIA Renditions.” 

Full texts can be found at the links above; abstracts are below.

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Abstract: Transatlantic Regulatory Interdependence, Law and Governance: The Evolving Roles of the EU and US Legislatures

This article analyses the roles of the European Parliament and the US Congress in addressing regulatory interdependencies arising in the EU–US strategic partnership. It examines their international actorness as a potential remedy for the problems of democratic participation, executive dominance, and opaqueness in the shaping of transatlantic relations. It shows that legislatures significantly contribute to regulatory discrepancies and trade disputes and that the adverse consequences thereof justify more intensive ex ante cooperation between them. The analysis conducts two groups of case studies to demonstrate how the EP and Congress influence law and policy in areas of transatlantic regulatory and foreign policy divergence. The first group of case studies analyses parliamentary involvement in the making of international agreements (TTIP and ACTA). The second group of case studies inspects legislative action with extraterritorial effects (US Helms–Burton and Sarbanes–Oxley Acts). The article argues that the EP and Congress have so far frequently acted against the spirit of the strategic partnership in ways that are injurious to the interests of the other side, and discusses whether an interparliamentary early warning mechanism could reduce legislative and political frictions and increase the coherence of transatlantic lawmaking.


Abstract: The Role of the European Parliament and the US Congress in Shaping Transatlantic Relations: TTIP, NSA Surveillance and CIA Renditions

This article analyses the manner in which the parliaments of the EU and the US – two key global strategic partners – participate in the shaping of transatlantic relations. The article argues that the European Parliament (EP) and Congress aim not only to influence their executive branches but also to act autonomously in the transnational arena through parliamentary diplomacy. They seek to secure concessions both formally by scrutinizing transatlantic international agreements, such as TTIP, as well as informally by exposing injustices and diplomatic misconduct through human rights advocacy and institutional pressure, such as in the cases of the NSA surveillance and CIA renditions. The article demonstrates that the EP and Congress have created capacities for internal scrutiny and transnational interparliamentary dialogue and that they utilize their consent powers to make claims, condition transatlantic negotiations and gain greater presence, visibility and influence in international affairs.