The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the EU and USA (TTIP) that has been in the works for some years has rarely been put to public discussion in Bulgaria. During one of the few events on the subject – a conference, organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria - Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva hastened to say that Bulgaria supports the TTIP. Whereas in this country there has been practically no discussion of the benefits and risks the TTIP entails, the NGO sector in Western Europe has been sounding the alarm of the potential dangers the partnership agreement may pose to the EU’s high standards.

“A day will come when we shall see the United States of America and the United States of Europe, stretching out their hands across the sea, exchanging their products, their arts, their works of genius And to bring about that day will not take another 400 years, for we are living in a fast-moving age.”

These prophetic words belonging to French writer Victor Hugo were spoken at the Paris Peace Congress in 1849. Evidently the time of his dream is now come. The negotiations between USA and the EU on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership for establishing a free market on both side of the Atlantic are into their crucial phase. In the final stretch, the arguments for and against are coming to a head. In his inaugural address, the newly elected President of the European Council Donald Tusk described the TTIP as a key to deepening relations between the EU and USA. But the NGO critics of the TTIP have now been joined by politicians. Some time ago Germany’s Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks had some scathing remarks to make regarding the provision that companies may turn to the courts of arbitration if they ever deem any country to have created rules to the detriment of their own interests.

“That would mean big corporations will be serving their own interests in contravention of national legislation in the EU member countries and complete lack of democratic control,” she said. At the TTIP conference in Sofia Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva tried to dispel any doubts:

“First and foremost it is important to know that all counties members of the EU are taking part in the negotiations and that the agreement will be approved by the Council of the European Union i.e. by the member countries. Bulgarian citizens must rest assured that the government shall not have anything thrust upon it without having taken part in the process of negotiations first. Neither Bulgaria nor the EU shall abandon their high standards of safety, health, environmental protection and consumer protection. Our understanding is different from the understanding of our American friends when it comes to GMO and cloned animals. They are not on the agenda of the negotiations on the agreement. But the tariffs in agriculture that make exporting some farming products to USA highly unprofitable are. As to GMOs, the legislation now in place - i.e. that each country decides for itself whether to allow them on its market - will continue to operate.”

At the conference in Sofia Meglena Kuneva outlined the sensitive areas that give Europeans cause for concern. But Bulgaria is highlighting another issue at the negotiations. According to Economy Minister Bozhidar Lukarski, Sofia’s prime objective is to attain alleviations for small and medium-sized businesses, which are hard put to finding entry to markets abroad.

“For Bulgaria free access to markets in third, non-EU countries and foreign direct investments are key for attaining sustainable growth. What conditions will be created for SMEs is paramount to Bulgaria. Small and medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of the European economy, they should be the backbone of Bulgaria’s economy as well and play a crucial role in its recovery.”

At the conference in Sofia, Minister Lukarski spoke of the TTIP’s economic significance, although it has political dimensions as well. Last but not least, the partnership agreement aims to help USA and the EU keep at bay the strong competition - economic and political – coming from the BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China. On the other hand, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is still a matter for the future and the negotiations do not look like ending any time soon. They are scheduled to be completed at the end of next year, but USA is hardly likely to take the risk of signing the partnership agreement on the eve of the presidential elections the in 2016.

English Milena Daynova