Abstract: In 2013 the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) announced the start of negotiations for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The announcement – which followed protracted preparations and scoping – signalled the start of a major effort to reduce bilateral barriers to trade and investment between the two largest economies in the world, at a time when both parties were seeking to recover from the economic crisis. If successful, the TTIP is expected to set the rules, standards and expectations for subsequent bilateral trade agreements, and greatly influence the direction of international and multilateral agreements.

In 2013 the Australian National University's Centre for European Studies hosted a public roundtable to discuss the broad implications of the proposed agreement and elaborate the context in which the negotiations take place. The panel covered a diverse range of issues associated with the TTIP. It focused on broad implications for, and lessons from, trade relationships in the Asia-Pacific. Presentations covered the recent history and different approaches of the European and American approaches to free trade agreements; lessons from the comprehensive agreement between the EU and Korea; the state of play in negotiations between the EU and Japan; comparisons between the proposed transatlantic market and the trans-Tasman single market; and implications for an EU-Australia Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Participants approached the prospect of the TTIP with different perspectives and expertise, but were in agreement that the potential implications of a successful transatlantic deal are game-changing, and go well beyond the EU-US partnership. Of all the recent attempts at forging new trade deals, including the socalled ‘mega-regionals’, the TTIP is among the most ambitious.