Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) - Update 5, 01/2016
EU trade negotiations can affect the conditions under which the European higher education sector operates. The position of EUA’s Board and Council is that the EU should not make commitments in the categories of HE and AE (higher and adult education) and that it should make absolutely clear to its negotiating partners that elected member state governments reserve the right to determine the character of their HE and AE systems.
Since the previous EUA Update, EU and US negotiators have maintained their slow progress towards agreement. The successful conclusion of negotiations on TPP – the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which the US has prioritised over TTIP – may assist them, although there can be no guarantee that TPP will get through a hostile Congress. Moreover, their work may be hampered by the Volkswagen scandal, which saps the credibility of European regulators, and by the agreement within the EU on the General Data Protection Regulation, which is bound to anger US tech companies.
