Ignacio García Bercero: "Transatlantic Free Trade: The Final Push?"

24 November 2014
Ignacio García Bercero, Director at the Directorate General for Trade of the European Commission and EU Chief Negotiator of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, will be hosted by the UCLU European Society and the UCLU Economics and Finance Society.

Join UCL's European Society for its third academic event of the year, jointly run with the UCLU Economics and Finance Society! Ignacio García Bercero, Director at the Directorate General for Trade of the European Commission and EU Chief Negotiator of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), will join us for a talk entitled "Transatlantic Trade and Investment: The Final Push?".

In a nutshell, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a trade agreement that is presently being negotiated between the European Union and the United States. It aims at removing trade barriers in a wide range of economic sectors to make it easier to buy and sell goods and services between the EU and the US. The TTIP agreement could be finalised by the end of 2014. But does the political will exist to reap the gains from trade? The talk will examine the current state of negotiations and look at what lies ahead for what could become a powerful shot in the arm for the world's anaemic economy

Mr. García Bercero joined the European Commission in 1987 and has thorough experience in a large number of trade-related policy areas. Currently a director at the Directorate General for Trade of the European Commission, he oversees activities related to the US, Canada and the EU Neighbouring Countries. He acts as the EU Chief Negotiator for the TTIP. Mr García Bercero holds an LLM (with distinction) from UCL