29 May 2015

Members of the European Parliament’s International Trade Committee have agreed a resolution backing the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

The Trade Committee passed the recommendations by 28 votes to 13 on Thursday (28 May). The report will go before the full European Parliament for a vote on 10 June.

In the original draft, MEPs said that fair treatment of foreign investors “can be achieved without the inclusion of an ISDS mechanism – such a mechanism is not necessary in TTIP given the EU’s and US’ developed legal systems”. However, an amendment dropped that statement, and ambiguously called for disputes to be settled “in a transparent manner by publicly appointed, independent professional judges in public hearings”.

Green and socialist MEPs as well as BEUC, a major European consumer group, have all criticised the report. Monique Goyens of BEUC said; ”We have yet to see any facts justifying its inclusion in an EU/US trade deal. We hope MEPs when voting in plenary will demand the exclusion of this outdated, discriminatory and unneeded mechanism.”

The vote is completely contra to European public opinion, with almost two million people signing a European Citizens’ Initiative opposing the secretive EU-US trade deal. The response against TTIP constitutes one of the most popular and coordinated campaigns against free trade in history.

War on Want Executive Director John Hilary said: “Millions of people across Europe have said no to TTIP, in the strongest trade campaign we have ever seen. Yet MEPs have turned their backs on their own constituents, choosing instead to side with the business lobbyists of Brussels. This is an outright betrayal of the European people, and we shall not forget it.”

ACT NOW

Write to your MEPs here and call for the following to be included in TTIP:

• defence of workers’ rights;

• protection for public services;

• removal of ISDS and special courts for foreign investors; and

• no reduction in regulatory protections for workers, consumers or
  the environment.