Far from being a threat to European democracy, the EU-US free trade deal is an ideal opportunity to reform controversial investment rules and procedures

The EU and the United States are currently in the process of negotiating a free trade area, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Robert Basedow writes on criticism over the potential inclusion of ‘investor-state dispute settlement’ procedures in TTIP, which some commentators and academics have argued could undermine democracy on both sides of the Atlantic. He argues that rather than being seen as a threat to democracy, the TTIP negotiations should instead be seen as an opportunity for reform, and that maintaining the status quo could prove to be a greater threat to democracy and the rule of law in the long-term.