Remarks on TTIP, Public Opinion and Regulatory Convergence at the GES

Pascal Lamy (former Director-General at WTO), Andreas Esche, Director of the Shaping Sustainable Economies Program (Bertelsmann Stiftung) and Petra Pinzler (Die Zeit) spoke at the GED sponsored “Multilateral Regionalism and Emerging Markets – Opportunities and Risks in Global Trade” panel at the Global Economic Symposium (GES) in Kiel. The speakers exchanged views on left and right-wing resistance against FTAs citizens’ perceptions on TTIP, democratic transparency and environmental and animal rights standards.

Petra Pinzler defended the recent anti-TTIP demonstration in Berlin, since citizens feared that it would lower products and services’ standards. Pascal Lamy pointed out the miscommunication between EU and US policy makers and citizens. In his opinion, better communication would have shown how the new FTAs mostly concern regulatory convergence, and not led to the current anti-TTIP climate.

See their full remarks in this video below.

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Please don’t miss our upcoming videos with an interview with Pascal Lamy in our Session at the Global Economic Symposium!