ABSTRACT
Although trade and investment agreements are signed between states, non-state actors, such as trade unions, employers' organizations and other civil society actors are increasingly recognized as having a legitimate voice during the negotiation and implementation processes of these agreements. In part, this development has been driven by the widening scope of the issues regulated under trade agreements, which can extend well beyond the removal of tariff barriers. This is particularly evident in the latest generation of deep and comprehensive cross-regional trade agreements negotiated by the EU and the US, which intend to regulate a wide range of issues. Described as two of the largest trade deals in history and widely criticized for lacking in transparency, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreements embody both these concerns. TTIP is expected to serve as a template for future trade agreements and regulatory cooperation.
