Going beyond pure economics: The EU’s strategic motivation to negotiate the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Bruges Political Research Papers 51/2016

Kellner, Tobias (2016) Going beyond pure economics: The EU’s strategic motivation to negotiate the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Bruges Political Research Papers 51/2016. [Policy Paper]

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Abstract

The aim of this paper is to look at the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) from different angles. Referred to as being more than just a classic free trade agreement, TTIP goes beyond what we have seen in international trade by the EU so far. If that is true, it is crucial to see what motivations the EU has to negotiate TTIP and understand why the negotiations take place at this moment. Conducting twenty expert interviews and relating their outcome with three working hypotheses, we find strong evidence for a strategic rationale in TTIP, especially with a realist emphasis. We learn that the underlying theories are not only interlinked, but even reinforce each other.

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