As U.S. organizations and academics interested in issues related to good governance and transparency, we write to urge you to match the level of openness embarked upon by your counterpart from the European Union and make publicly available U.S. proposals for trade and investment agreements currently under negotiation, in particular, the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (known as the “TTIP”). We believe that the public release of U.S. and European Union (EU) proposals must be a step toward achieving full transparency, which would be achieved by releasing consolidated draft texts after each negotiating round…
… Despite the expansive coverage of the TTIP across a host of policy areas (including but not limited to labor, the environment, healthcare, intellectual property, food safety, financial services regulation, public services, professional licensure, investment, and competition policy), the U.S. government has thus far failed to make its textual proposals or negotiating texts public … If the EU is willing to publish its textual proposals, there is no reason why the U.S. cannot immediately release its own textual proposals as well. This significant change from present practice would be a major step toward the release of composite draft texts after each round. It would also help produce trade negotiations guided by the principles of democracy, transparency, and political accountability.
