Previous rounds of negotiations

TTIP negotiations cover a wide range of issues1 aimed at agreeing on ambitious provisions going beyond World Trade Organization (WTO) rules in a number of fields: market access in goods and services, regulatory provisions (SPS and TBT), intellectual property rights, and public procurement. TTIP also aims for ambitious new rules on sustainable development, competition, state-owned enterprises, SMEs, investment and regulatory cooperation. The EU has also proposed an unprecedented specific chapter on energy and a new proposal to replace the former arbitration system for solving disputes arising between states and foreign investors by referring them to an investment court. During their 13th round, (see Table 1) TTIP negotiations achieved significant progress, especially on regulatory cooperation. By the end of April 2016, there were 17 consolidated documents on the negotiation table; for the remaining chapters there were textual proposals from either the EU or the US side.2 The USA would like to see the negotiations concluded before the end of the Obama mandate in 2016; the EU Chief Negotiator, Ignacio García Bercero, has stated the commitment of the EU to work toward finalising negotiations in 2016, but only if the substance of the negotiation is right.