A successful ratification of a Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is possible in the next few years: an agreement that would effectively liberalize a third of global trade and further strengthen the political and economic cooperation between the two largest trading blocks on the planet.
In Europe, the incentive is one of growth. Though the Eurozone crisis has stabilized, large amounts of public debt and slow growth have created a political imperative to bolster economic output. Beyond austerity, the European Union can embrace aggressive economic liberalization to keep fanned the fires of economic growth.
Beyond purely economic benefits – some analysts suggest $250 billion would be added to the GDP of the expanded trade block in 5 years – the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership also offers the EU and US a chance to further unite their vision of a world favoring open markets, free peoples and the rule of law.
Some observers believe both parties to the pact risk stalling the process by over-attentiveness to their own industries. In America, there is talk of protecting financial services and the airlines; in the EU, politicians are seeking to make exceptions of certain agriculture, public services and audio-visual content. Moreover, both sides sometimes feel hopeless in the face of differing regulatory regimes which complicate liberalization.
Still, the benefits of the Trans-Atlantic Pact far outweigh the headache of tackling regulatory complexities and vested economic interests. If successful, the expanded trading block will offer consumers lower prices, laborers more jobs, business more opportunity and politicians a unified politico-economic front on which the US and EU can continue to lead the world into the 21st century.