Regulatory chill? Why TTIP could inhibit governments from regulating in the public interest

On 10 June a key debate in the European Parliament on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) was suspended. As Gabriel Siles-Brügge and Nicolette Butler write, much of the criticism of TTIP has focused on its impact on public healthcare systems and the role of ‘corporate tribunals’. They argue that this overlooks one of TTIP’s central purposes: a series of provisions that could make it more difficult for governments to regulate in the public interest for the sake of promoting regulatory convergence between the EU and the US.