Abstract
This  paper  examines  options  for  regulatory  cooperation  in  the  Transatlantic  Trade  and
Investment  Partnership  (TTIP)  and  assesses  the  challenges  and  opportunities  posed  by
regulatory cooperation for consumer protection. It looks at existing approaches to regulatory
cooperation by referencing a range of case studies. Based on established practice and on the
European Commission’s recently published proposal on regulatory cooperation, we discuss a
possible approach that could be adopted in the TTIP. Against the significant potential gains
from improved regulatory cooperation, one must set the significant challenges of reconciling
the different regulatory philosophies of the US and the EU as well as some differences in the
respective  approaches  to  cooperation.  In  broad  terms,  this  analysis  finds  that  regulatory
powers on both sides of the Atlantic will not be significantly affected by the TTIP, but suggests
that European and American legislators will need to ensure that their priorities shape the TTIP
regulatory cooperation agenda and not the other way around.