In 2013, the EU started negotiations with the US over a free trade agreement, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which aims at reducing barriers and harmonising systems between the two actors. The 8th round of TTIP negotiations took place from 2 to 6 February 2015 in Brussels. EUCIS-LLL is deeply concerned by the possible consequences of the negotiations on our European education and training sectors. EUCIS-LLL promotes a comprehensive approach to education where bridges are made between non-formal and formal education. Without a clear exemption system, the agreement could represent a threat to most educational sectors and in turn be a threat to our European social model. EUCIS-LLL thus wants to firmly underline that education is a public good and asks the European Commission and the Member States to exclude education from the negotiations as it did for the audio-visual sector based on the public interest in preserving and promoting cultural and linguistic diversity. EUCIS-LLL also shares the views of stakeholders in the field who are concerned about the transparency of this process and demand to stop closed-doors negotiations. This position paper reflects the views of our members as regards the ongoing TTIP negotiations.
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