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Publishers Abstract:
The idea of a transatlantic free trade area (TAFTA) or a barrier-free North-Atlantic market crops up once again. There are a number of politico-legal reasons why a new Transatlantic Free Trade Association or a barrier-free market is probably not feasible, certainly not in the short run; at least not in the way many Europeans envisage it, on the basis of a binding international agreement. In order to have maximum effect at grass roots level, such an agreement should preferably be self-executing. The last point already shows that it may be equally difficult for the European Commission -- for legal -- institutional reasons -- to conclude a fully-fledged agreement on trade liberalisation in order to bring about such a TAFTA or North-Atlantic Market. It is obvious from this list of some of the most important differences in points of view, that the problems dividing the US and the European Union on fundamental issues of humanitarian law and human rights are still considerable.
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