EU should OK trade pact with U.S.
There are 10 million reasons for Europe to shed its resistance to a trade deal with the U.S. – that’s the number of European jobs that depend on American exports. But negotiations are bogged down over a European proposal to change the way governments and investors settle disputes.
Differences over the same issue almost derailed last summer's Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. And the solution reached in the TPP provides a ready-made template for a European trade deal.
The rationale for the traditional arbitration process for investor-state disputes is that it enables foreign companies to bypass host-country courts. But in July, the European Parliament, which gets a vote on the final trade deal, instructed trade negotiators to replace that arbitration process, now embedded in thousands of trade treaties.
They might have looked to the TPP as a model for a sensible update. That deal incorporates many of Europe's current demands, such as making the proceedings public and allowing interested third parties to weigh in. It would be a shame if a dispute over disputes brought them to a halt.
This story was originally published November 17, 2015 at 7:34 PM with the headline "EU should OK trade pact with U.S.."