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| Photo by Maxime Larive |
"The Future of Transatlantic Relations: Trade, Agriculture and Politics" was an exciting event hosted by the European Union Center on April 8, 2016 in Chicago. The roundtable at the Federal Reserve Bank shed light on the Transatlantic Trade Investment Partnership (better known with its acronym “TTIP”), the preferential trade agreement colossus and younger cousin of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) signed in the Fall by the United States and eleven Pacific countries.
The goal of these agreements is to reduce tariff and, even more important, non-tariff barriers to trade. The US and the EU, old and well established commercial partners, are looking to remove bureaucratic burdens while not lowering safety and qualitative standards for products and services. Although EU and US standards are both aimed to seek the best possible protection for consumers, they are often assessed following different procedures and thus are not fully recognized from each side. TTIP is also aimed to reduce these incongruences by recognizing equivalent rules and standards.
The high-profile panel offered an enlightening insight on the negotiations, with Prof. David Bullock as a moderator and a great number of questions from the public. But the event in Chicago was not only about the TTIP. Earlier in the afternoon, a lunch-buffet was accompanied by an informative session on the Master of Arts in European Union Studies (MAEUS) brilliantly conducted by Dr. Neil Vander Most, Visiting Coordinator of Academic Programs at the European Union Center of the University of Illinois. Perspective students and all those interested in the program had the opportunity to learn more about the MAEUS, and had many question answered during the presentation and the direct testimonials of current students.
The reception at the end of the event offered a chance to ask further questions of the panelists, as well as to discuss more informally among the participants on the future of the TTIP and Transatlantic relations. Nonetheless, great food and a friendly atmosphere made the event an even greater success.
In addition to this article, two collections of tweets from April 8 can be found below or can be found on our Twitter.
Tweets from TTIP Day 2016
#ftr16
Tweets about #MAEUS from April 8, 2016
MAEUS
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