Understanding Mega Free Trade Agreements The Political and Economic Governance of New Cross-Regionalism New Regionalisms Series

The rise of cross-regional trade agreements is a defining trend of the current international trade system as shown by the signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in 2015, the negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the USA and the EU as well as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) between countries in Asia and Oceania. These differ from previous agreements in their economic significance and large geographic scale, and the wide scope of trade-related issues.

The current rise of nationalist and isolationist ideologies across Europe and the USA has raised questions on the future of cross-regional trade deals and made the need to understand their implications for economic and political governance ever more urgent. Two main forms of governance that are central to this volume are the democratic tensions over new generation trade deals on the one hand, and their geopolitical ramifications on the other, which have come into collision to herald the advent of a highly uncertain period of world politics. Many of the questions tackled in this volume, surrounding the democratic governance of trade agreements ? whether long-held debates on the inclusion of workers? voices, controversies on intrusive "behind the border" provisions undermining national sovereignty and local autonomy or new questions on digital rights ? are crucial to understand the ebbing popular support for far-reaching trade agreements.

This book will be a useful learning tool for students and scholars in a wide range of fields, including Globalisation, Global Governance, International Political Economy, International Trade and Investment and International Law, and should also be of interest to EU trade negotiators, international policymakers and business associations.

Introduction: Understanding Mega-Free Trade Agreements: The Political and Economic Governance of New Cross-Regionalism

PART I – THE GEOSTRATEGIC STAKES OF NEW CROSS-REGIONALISM

Chapter 1: From APEC to the Trans-Pacific Partnership: The United States, Asia and Interconnection Agreements

Chapter 2: Defining an "Economic NATO": the Implications of TTIP for Transatlantic Security and Defense

Chapter 3: The Trans-Pacific Partnership: Assessing the Role of a Mega-Free Trade Agreement in US Diplomacy

PART II – CROSS-REGIONAL FTAS AS INTERNATIONAL REGULATORY REGIMES

Chapter 4: Regulatory Networks versus Trade Negotiations: Addressing Transatlantic Coordination Failure in Financial Regulation

Chapter 5: Shifting Governance: TTIP and the Public Services Debate

Chapter 6: The Trans-Pacific Partnership: the Entertainment Triad

PART III – THE ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE OF NEW CROSS-REGIONALISM

Chapter 7: Regional Trade Agreements and International Production Networks

Chapter 8: Designing Credible Commitment: The Political Economy of Dispute Settlement Design in PTAs

Chapter 9: The Impact of the TTIP on the Irish Economic Development Model

PART IV - THE DEMOCRATIC POLITICS OF NEW CROSS-REGIONALISM

Chapter 10: Civil Society Participation in EU and US Trade Politics –TTIP and TPP in Context

Chapter 11: The Digital Trade Imbalance and its Implications for Internet Governance

Conclusion

Jean-Baptiste Velut is Associate Professor in American Studies at Université Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris.

Louise Dalingwater is Associate Professor in British studies at Université Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris.

Vanessa Boullet is Associate Professor in Irish Studies at the University of Lorraine.

Valérie Peyronel is Professor of British and Irish Studies at Université Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris.