Trade, the Precautionary Principle, and Post-Modern Regulatory Process: Regulatory Convergence in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

European Journal of Risk Regulation 4/2013, pp. 493-507

15 Pages Posted: 11 Jan 2014

See all articles by Lucas Bergkamp

Lucas Bergkamp

Hunton & Williams, Brussels; KU Leuven, Faculty of Law

Lawrence A. Kogan

The Kogan Law Group, P.C.; Institute for Trade, Standards and Sustainable Development (ITSSD)

Date Written: December 5, 2013

Abstract

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (“TTIP”) has been hailed as an opportunity for the world’s two largest consumer markets to expand inter-regional trade, investment and jobs, and to secure greater regulatory convergence that could considerably reduce costly and market-distorting extra-territorial non-tariff regulatory trade barriers. This opportunity notwithstanding, Europe’s precautionary principle (“PP”) has been identified as a potential obstacle to a successful TTIP outcome. In our view, the TTIP presents a significant opportunity for creating a process for regulatory cooperation, harmonization, and convergence.

In this article, we focus on the PP and related differences in regulatory procedures. Specifically, we discuss the PP’s relation to post-modernism, and its influence on EU regulatory procedure and science, highlighting the paradoxes inherent in the PP. To put these issues into perspective, we also review the ‘reality of precaution.’ In light of this analysis, we assess the effectiveness of the trading partners’ attempts to reduce the regulatory divide, and explore what the EU and US can learn from each other. We then proceed to present some recommendations on how they should proceed in the TTIP negotiations.

Keywords: international trade, regulation, product standards, post-modernism, precautionary principle, regulatory coherence, regulatory cooperation, international relations, US-EU relations

JEL Classification: F10, F13, F15

Suggested Citation

Bergkamp, Lucas and Kogan, Lawrence A., Trade, the Precautionary Principle, and Post-Modern Regulatory Process: Regulatory Convergence in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (December 5, 2013). European Journal of Risk Regulation 4/2013, pp. 493-507, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2376753

Lucas Bergkamp (Contact Author)

Hunton & Williams, Brussels ( email )

11, rue des Colonies
1000 Brussels
Belgium
+32 2 643 58 00 (Phone)
+32 2 643 58 22 (Fax)

KU Leuven, Faculty of Law ( email )

Tiensestraat 41
Leuven, B-3000
Belgium

Lawrence A. Kogan

The Kogan Law Group, P.C. ( email )

100 United Nations Plaza
Suite 14F
New York, NY 10017
United States
2126449240 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.koganlawgroup.com

Institute for Trade, Standards and Sustainable Development (ITSSD) ( email )

P.O. Box 334
Princeton Junction, NJ NJ 08550-9998
United States
6096587417 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.itssdusa.org

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