The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership: Renewed Interest After Ukraine?

Negotiation of a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the United States and the European Union began in July 2013, but has been overshadowed by the Obama administration's "pivot to Asia" embodied by Trans-Pacific Partnership talks. After the collapse of the Doha Round, fiscal and monetary sharply divided Europe, and NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan seemed to mark the end of the Transatlantic moment.

Less than a year later, TTIP has taken on new importance in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Crimea in response to a popular uprising by Ukrainians who wanted closer economic ties with the European Union and North America. Renewed transatlantic ties - economic, political and military - are seen in Washington as an essential expression of 21st century solidarity in response to Moscow's 19th century aggression. Yet concluding a TTIP agreement will require political will and concerted efforts by leaders on both sides of the Atlantic. What is the near term outlook for TTIP? What roadblocks does the agreement face? What benefits could it bring to the US and the EU?

To analyze these questions, Hudson Institute assembled a panel of leading experts featuring the Honorable Bruno Maçães, Portuguese Secretary of State for European Affairs, Rod Hunter, Senior Vice President, International Affairs at PhRMA, Tom Duesterberg, Director of the Manufacturing and Society in the 21st Century Program at the Aspen Institute, and Jeff Gedmin, Senior Fellow at Georgetown University. Kenneth Weinstein, President and CEO of Hudson Institute, provided welcoming remarks and the panel was moderated by Christopher Sands, Senior Fellow at Hudson Institute.