"The EU is currently negotiating, and countries that sign free trade agreements can maintain public monopolies and regulate public services as they see fit." Few people can access documents known as "consolidated texts," projects that contain the most recent results of the negotiations. On the European side, the negotiators of the European Commission (mostly from the Directorate General of Trade), MEPs from the European Union and MEPs from the European Union. [65] At the insistence of the United States, the documents are no longer transmitted as electronic documents or even printed. [5] They are only available in secure premises at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, in a number of US embassies[5] and in the offices of The Trade Ministries of the Member States. [65] In all of these secure rooms, phones or any other type of scanning devices are prohibited. [5] Blank sheet of paper bearing the reader`s names are available, on which visitors can write down their notes. [65] On the U.S. side, the procedure is similar: only senators and USTR negotiators can access the documents and must meet similar conditions. [5] The United States has emphasized the same security precautions for proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership proposals. [5] A TTIP sustainable development project was sent to the Guardian in October 2015. A French lawyer invited to comment on the document described the proposed environmental protection measures as "virtually non-existent" in relation to investor protection and, according to Friends of the Earth Europe, 60% of the 127 ISDS cases against EU countries in the past two decades under bilateral trade agreements were environmentally related. [105] According to Joseph E. Stiglitz, TTIP could have a "chillende" effect on regulation, undermining "the urgent climate change measures required by the Paris Agreement." He says that industries that do not bear the "social cost" of pollution do receive hidden subsidies and that TTIP would give companies much more opportunities to sue governments for environmental protection mechanisms.
[106] The Unite union stated that "real risks" remained because of the dispute resolution mechanism to be included by TTIP. The eleventh round of negotiations between the EU and the United States on TTIP was held from 19 to 23 October 2015 in Miami, Florida. During this round, several expert groups from both parties discussed issues related to market access, regulation and trade rules. However, TTIP would be much more than just a trade agreement. It offers Europe and the United States, the two largest economic regions with very high standards, the opportunity to set global standards and thus actively contribute to shaping globalization policy. The agreement is also "a commitment to a global world where common values and common economic activities can be better promoted," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Berlin in June 2013. TTIP also provides an opportunity to bring the United States and the EU closer together politically and to strengthen transatlantic friendship. With regard to TTIP, a broader "transatlantic free trade area" has been adopted. [By whom?] [Citation required] On the U.S. side, other members of the North American Free Trade Area (Canada and Mexico) could be part of it; and, on the European side, members of the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein). Mexico has already concluded a free trade agreement with EFTA and the EU, while Canada has a free trade agreement with EFTA and negotiated a free trade agreement with the EU. These agreements may need to be harmonised with the EU-US agreement and could constitute a wider free trade area.
The text is consistent with the text as used in a similar free trade agreement between the EU and Canada (CETA). The Guardian called TTIP "the most controversial trade deal ever negotiated by the EU." [18] TTIP negotiations are criticised and rejected by some unions,
