Publication

This paper addresses the US Senate granting President Obama Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) which gives him executive negotiating power on trade deals, in June 2015 as well as what this meas for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations. More specifically, the author discusses 1) how granting the TPA has become a bipartisan issue in the US; 2) the process by which TPA was granted to Obama; 3) the significance of TPA for Obama, the Republican Party and the Democrats as well as for the prospects of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TTP); 4) how the granting of TPA means it is high time for the US and the EU to work to conclude the TTIP negotiations; 5) the implications for Europe if the TPP is concluded before the TTIP; and 6) what the EU should do to seize the opportunity for the TTIP negotiations created by the granting of TPA.