Trade Anxiety

By Elizabeth Redden. European higher education leaders are concerned that two trade agreements currently being negotiated could cast doubt on the ability of national and regional governments to determine the character of their higher education systems.
At issue are the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), for which negotiators from the European Union and the United States entered their eighth round of talks this week, and the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA), which is being negotiated between 23 World Trade Organization members, including the E.U. and the U.S.
The higher education-related implications of these agreements, which are being negotiated behind closed doors, are not entirely clear. But in a statement released last week, the Council of the European University Association warned that the autonomy of national and regional governments could be threatened if higher education is subject to international trade rules. Read more...