Brussels, 15/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - In addition to the environmentalist (Greens/EFA) and far left (GUE/NGL) groups in the European Parliament, other voices have been raised this week, following the publication on 13 January of the results of the public consultation on investment protection in the EU-United States free-trade negotiations (TTIP), to complain about the attitude of the Commission which stands accused of turning a deaf ear to the continuing opposition to the TTIP.
Toxicity. “97% against the TTIP but the Commission couldn't care less”, lamented Belgian Socialist Maria Arena, who is a member of the Parliament's international trade committee, in a personal press release on Wednesday 14 January. “The Commission probably did not expect such opposition by citizens to the TTIP when it opened its public consultation, to which 150,000 responded, a record number. The result is conclusive, however: European citizens are concerned at the toxicity of the TTIP. Despite everything, the Commission will not take account of this consultation of the people” (our translation), Arena regretted. In proposing to examine four avenues to improve the mechanism for resolving investor-state disputes (ISDS) that was rejected by a huge majority of the consultation responses, the Commission announced that it did not intend to remove this mechanism from TTIP talks and would ignore the views of the people and leave it to governments to make the decision, Arena said. She called on the Belgian government to put this point on the agenda of the forthcoming European Council with a view to revising the TTIP negotiating mandate and officially proposing that the ISDS mechanism be withdrawn from the talks.
Complete disregard. From civil society, the NGO Friends of the Earth Europe (FoEE) also accuses the Commission of showing “total disregard for the voices of people who mobilised en masse to express their opposition to VIP treatment for investors in the EU-US negotiations”. “More than 97% of the responses to the consultation gave a clear answer expressing strong opposition to the mechanism's inclusion in this trade deal.” This, says FoEE trade campaigner Paul de Clerck “is yet more evidence that the TTIP negotiations are a dangerous Trojan horse driven by corporations at the expense of essential protections for people and the environment”.
European business keen on ISDS. Taking the opposite view, the association of European employers BusinessEurope this week highlighted “the need for strong investment protection provisions in the TTIP while improving transparency and efficiency in the system”. “We believe the TTIP offers the right platform for the EU and the US to agree on a 21st century investment chapter that includes ISDS”, the association insists. (EH)