Negotiations on the Transatlantic Free Trade Area. Effects of the Proposed Agreement on the Economies of the European Union and the United States of America

The paper is devoted to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which is also called the Transatlantic Free Trade Area (TAFTA). The problem is whether TTIP should be created, and if yes, what shape it should take, and how it will affect the economies of the European Union (EU) and the United States (US). The aim of the paper is to answer the questions: what is the essence of the TTIP agreement, what reasons for this project are and what consequences will it have? At first, the authors present a declining role of the EU and the US in the global economy. Next, they analyse trade and investment flows between the EU and the US. Then, they analyse main motives for TTIP and present the course of TTIP negotiations. In the next section, the authors discuss the main barriers to the eco­nomic relations between the EU and the US. Then, they deal with controversies around the protection of investment and with concerns and risks arising from TTIP. In the final section, the authors analyse political consequences of launching TTIP. The authors conclude that the establishment of a free trade area covering the EU and the US could contribute to economic recovery on both sides of the Atlantic. The combination of lower production costs in the US with the highest European technological poten­tial is a prerequisite for the production of excellent products at competitive prices and their sales in international markets, which in turn can stop the trend of decline in the role of the EU and the US in the world trade. The TTIP would also strengthen transatlantic political ties and make the voice of the EU and the US more powerful in the process of searching solutions of many problems of the modern world. The authors use descriptive and analytical method of analysis based on journal articles, infor­mation obtained from the Internet and publications of international organizations