Brussels, 23/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 21 May, over 120 organisations defending democracy or the environment, social movements and consumers associations published a joint statement against the negotiations for a transatlantic trade and investment partnership agreement (TTIP). In the opinion of these civil society organisations, the TTIP negotiations “favour the interests of transnational companies”.
Led by NGOS Attac, Friends of the Earth, the French trade union CGT, the European coordination Via Campesina and the European Environmental Bureau, these organisations criticise the opacity and anti-democratic nature of the negotiations, as well as the flexibility of the standards provided for by the TTIP agreement. They also criticise the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism which could see multinational companies lodge complaints against the EU or any of its member states. In addition, the organisations criticise the anti-democratic governance structure proposed, with a regulatory cooperation council for the gradual “harmonisation” of regulations and procedures.
“Clearly the aim is to lower existing regulations to the advantage of big business. The majority of farmers will see incomes reduced, and even more small farmers will be forced from their land. With protections reduced, and beef with hormones and GMOs on their plate, consumers won't be able to say anything”, says Via Campesina. In CGT's view, “creating a transatlantic common market is core to the grand liberalisation agenda for the European and US economies. TTIP threatens to repeat the errors of the Rome Treaty: the EU is revealing itself to be a machine which puts workers of its member countries in competition with each other and is a driving force for social dumping”. (EH)