U.S.-EU Trade Negotiations Are a Rare Opportunity for the U.S. to Rein in the EU's Regulatory Reach (Anu Bradford)

The piece below by network member Anu Bradford (Columbia) originally appeared on The Huffington Post and is cross-posted here with permission.

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As the United States and European Union gear up their trade negotiations, this much is clear: A trade pact between the two powers would be monumental. The two economies comprise half the world's economic output and represent a third of the world's trade flows. A pact would offer a much-needed boost for economic growth and jobs on both sides of the Atlantic--an opportunity neither region can afford to miss. Perhaps more importantly for the U.S., trade talks present the best--if not the only--opportunity to have a say on global regulatory standards.

Existing transatlantic disagreements about regulatory standards are seen as the greatest stumbling block for the negotiations. The substantial economic gains that the trade pact would generate may be unattainable simply because the parties cannot agree on whether chlorine-rinsed chicken or hormone-treated beef is fit for importing into the EU.

But instead of seeing such differences as an obstacle, the U.S. should welcome the opportunity to address competing regulations jointly with the EU. The alternative is that the EU sets these standards alone.

The EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA): brief update on a winter of discontent (Armand de Mestral)

Network member Armand de Mestral (McGill) has passed on this brief update on the CETA negotiations.  It outlines a number of issues that have emerged which should be of particular interest to the broader transatlantic legal community given the renewed attention in the US to a trade agreement with the EU.  Thanks Armand for the contribution.

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The CETA negotiations, which were first expected to be concluded over a year ago, have continued to drag on through the summer, the autumn and now even the winter. It took Canada a long time to decide that it wanted the CETA and even longer to convince the EU to negotiate. Now, when both sides really want the CETA, it is proving harder to get than either expected despite the obvious advantages of liberalising trade between the two parties.