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RECOMMENDATIONS
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5. The EU-USA Free Trade Treaty (TTIP)
– This agreement is an opportunity for Europe if it is balanced and
based on respect for Europe’s political and social characteristics. The
final formulation should contribute to economic growth and the
creation of jobs, and should be favourable to all companies, par-
ticularly SMEs, not just large corporations.
– The TTIP should preserve European standards on food safety and
data protection and should not have a negative impact on social
protection, consumer protection, environmental protection, em-
ployment rights and cultural diversity.
– In so far as it is also an investment treaty, the TTIP should include a
chapter on financial cooperation with an express commitment by
both parties to eliminate banking malpractice and to prevent future
crises. Alternatively, the USA and the EU should sign a separate
agreement to address this shortcoming.
– It should respect regular legal procedures in the resolution of disa-
greements between investors and states, incorporating safeguards
and mechanisms such as a Trade and Investment Tribunal, along the
lines of the EU–Canada Treaty.
– We need to make the negotiation process more transparent, as
promised by Commissioner Cecilia Mällstrom, and argue for the
requirement for the Treaty to be ratified by the European Parliament.
This would require an extensive round of consultation with govern-
ments, national parliaments and other affected sectors.
6. Reform of the financial system
– The European Union needs to develop an integrated financial sys-
tem, one that addresses the problem of financial fragmentation
and, above all, that clarifies the different rates of interest offered to
retail customers in different member states.
– The European financial system must be stable and should contrib-
ute to the growth of per capita income and of employment. This
requires the strict regulation of banks to reduce specialization and
minimize systemic risk. There are still some major unresolved issues
regarding Banking Union, such as the separation of investment
banking from high street and business banking. It is important that
this separation should be objective and based on a clear threshold,
one that measures the ratio of loans to the real economy as a pro-
portion of the total portfolio.