As we‘ve noted many times before, one of the biggest problems with TAFTA/TTIP and TPP is the almost complete lack of transparency about the negotiations. Although the politicians like to assert that this is „inevitable“ during any trade agreement where tough haggling over numbers needs to take place, this deliberately ignores the point that TPP and TTIP are not just trade agreements: they touch on areas that are the domain of public policy and democratic decision-making — things like regulations, standards, approaches to copyright and patents etc.