Big corp vs the people, round MMLXCCII. (TTIP/TAFTA)

[Ashmada]

The transatlantic free trade deal is a threat to democracy

Many politicians do not seem to realize that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) poses a direct threat to national sovereignty and democracy. They must wake up and stop the TTIP before it severely diminishes the welfare of planet earth.

What many people do not seem to realize is that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership or TTIP poses a direct threat to national sovereignty and democracy. At the moment, you can find a plethora of articles highlighting the benefits of the TTIP, but rarely any that address its costs in great depth, especially not the costs, which the governments and citizens of the signatory states will have to bear.

Many media outlets either completely ignore or discuss insufficiently the fact that this deal grants corporations the right to sue the signatory states if sufficient evidence suggests that state regulations hamper the plaintiff’s expected future profits. This mechanism, which is also known as investor-state dispute settlement, places the rights of investors above state sovereignty.

Investor-state dispute rules in existing trade treaties are being used in many parts of the world to undermine democracy and to thwart legislation that safeguards the well-being of people and the planet. Up to the present date, courts around the world have awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in tax money to corporations, based on the sole claim that state regulations reduced anticipated future profits. Currently, US- and EU-businesses are suing the Egyptian government for compensatory damages for future profit losses apparently resulting from an increase in the Egyptian minimum wage.

According to George Monbiot of The Guardian, these aren’t your typical courts. Contrary to what you would expect in a democracy, they are anything, but open, liable and independent. The hearings are held behind closed doors, hidden from the public gaze. The judges are corporate lawyers, who in some instances have worked for the plaintiffs. Citizens affected by the trail’s outcome have no legal standing and the defendants have no right of appeal. This legal system places not only governments, but also citizens at the mercy of big businesses.

“It would allow a secretive panel of corporate lawyers to overrule the will of parliament and destroy our legal protections,” writes Monbiot in his article: This transatlantic trade deal is a full-frontal assault on democracy.

Shockingly, our politicians do not seem to be bothered by the fact that the transatlantic trade deal would enable approx. 75.000 registered businesses to challenge their governments in courts that are biased and corrupted. Furthermore, they don’t seem vexed by the fact that the general public is also being barred from the transatlantic trade negotiations. This is absolutely unacceptable, especially since the terms and conditions of the TTIP will directly affect all citizens.

To make matters worse, 600 consultants for big businesses have exclusive access to the negotiating papers and the decision makers. The reason for the non-disclosure is obvious: the deal would instigate a major debate among the citizens of the USA and EU-states. For instance, this trade deal would force all signatory states to align their present and future domestic policies with the terms of the TTIP. On request of the corporations, the talks will not only address cutting tariffs across all sectors, but also non-trade-related barriers, including food safety regulations, climate protection laws, and rights to privacy on the Internet.

Due to their privileged status, major corporations can force national governments to act in their best interest and not in that of their constituents; for instance, by allowing the import of goods and services that do not meet national standards. EU and US businesses are especially pressing for changes in standards and controls in such areas as security, environmental protection, healthcare, and food safety. Companies such as Monsanto are pushing for more lax regulations on genetically- modified food products. The US meat industry is demanding the abolition of the EU-import ban on chlorine-treated chicken meat. EU companies are urging the US government to relieve the FDA of its power to take contaminated food products off the US market.

The transatlantic free trade deal would also have serious implications for the environment. Airlines for America, the largest union of US-airlines, wants the removal of all barriers to expected future profits. Currently, it is demanding the exclusion of all US-airlines from the EU Emission Trading System (EU-ETS).

Moreover, this agreement would promote the liberalization and decentralization of the financial sector by, for instance, disregarding the ban on risky financial goods and services and by enabling companies to sue states for prohibiting these goods and services. Furthermore, US-financial institutes are pushing for the elimination of all obstacles to the free movement of capital, including the proposed financial transaction tax. The lifting of such controls would promote corruption and mismanagement; increase economic risks; thereby laying the path for the next financial crisis.

Our politicians do not seem to realize what’s at stake: national sovereignty and the welfare of citizens and the planet as a whole. It is now our responsibility to make change happen. We must urge our politicians to act in our best interest and to go against the TTIP. Time is running out. We must act quickly!

Sauce.


TL;DR:
New EU/US "trade agreement" that intends to:
- Lower food safety standards on both sides of the atlantic; for instance EU companies want to end US FDA oversight, US companies want to sell chlorine-treated chicken and pork injected with ractopamine in the EU.

- Lower ecological standards; for instance US airlines are demanding to be excluded from the EU Emissions Trading System. (astonishing that EU airlines are letting it happen, it'd seriously hurt their competitivity)

- Entirely deregulate financial markets. The much-awaited (and promised since 2008's subprime crisis) Tobin Tax on financial transactions would never see the light of day and existing bans on risky goods and services would be void.

- Violate internet privacy.

- Make elected parliaments answerable to big corporations.
This is the biggest turd in that truckload of shit, the ISDS (investor-state dispute settlement) would allow big corporations to sue countries that enact laws that harm their expected profits.
No matter the legislation, no matter the reasoning (public health, environment,...), if it hurts expected profits, corps can sue... in front of biased international corporate tribunals, no less.

[BaneTheBrawler]

can't wait to pull my 16 tons

[Gokulo]

Sauce link not working?

Anyway... Continuum

[Meresgi]

This will go through, you know it will. Media won't cover this except to talk about how great it will be for the average person, and how the cost of milk/gas/whatever will go down, and how you'll get this and that...then 10 years from now when everything is even more fucked to shit and people realize what happened...it won't matter because we'll all be homeless and the top 1% will own all the homes in the US! :D :D

Seriously though, shit is fucking stupid. I can't believe it's even allowed to see the light of day, but it shows just how fucked up the situation is when this sort of bullshit can be possible

[BerenTebogo]

If it does go through it's going to be handled just like we currently handle the patriot act. Nobody (well, not nobody, but the vocal minority) batted an eyelash because safety and terrorism and blahblah. Now, for the most part, the average citizen is being negatively impacted by the fallout from it and we're starting to have real conversations about the overall and continuing negative impact of it, none of which will matter in any way because there's nothing we can do about it.

Can't wait to discuss this in 10 years about how we should've stopped this! Like we have any say, lol.

[ringthree]

Trade pacts make me shrug. It's inevitable, and its better for us to be involved and controlling the discussion than falling behind and having everyone else dictate the rules of the game.

Rejecting the pact doesn't really do anything but push off and compound the problems we currently have. Hell, the EU still has a scientifically irrational fear of GMO's and the US still subsidies every corporate farm in America. Trade issues are pushed by the economy and they are going to come with or without trade pacts. The trade pacts fuck everyone but so does the internationalization of trade. The trade pacts just make sure that everyone gets fucked equally.

[notorious bum]

The TPP is more than just a trade pact. They stuffed lots of goodies in there, for instance more corporate patent abuse that even big celebs don't want to see.

The TPP will have an equally-difficult time passing as it's weaker cousins. There's not a lot of support to be found outside of a few of the most corrupt countries and obviously the powers that be, who've created this monster.

[Ashmada]

Trade pacts make me shrug. It's inevitable, and its better for us to be involved and controlling the discussion than falling behind and having everyone else dictate the rules of the game.

Rejecting the pact doesn't really do anything but push off and compound the problems we currently have. Hell, the EU still has a scientifically irrational fear of GMO's and the US still subsidies every corporate farm in America. Trade issues are pushed by the economy and they are going to come with or without trade pacts. The trade pacts fuck everyone but so does the internationalization of trade. The trade pacts just make sure that everyone gets fucked equally.

What problems is this treaty going to solve?
Yes, the GMO ban isn't really substantiated scientifically, but then again, the way Monsanto uses GMO (and fucking patents them!) is far from ethical.
Truth is, tariffs are low in transatlantic trade, even the proponents of the treaty admit it.
The "problems" they aim to fix are things like public health and environmental laws getting in the way of profit.
It's corporatism at its most cynical in the guise of an innocent trade agreement, don't devil's advocate that shit.



For the long version, this guy has been keeping up with every step of the process if you feel like reading his 25 updates.


Bum: this is the TTIP, not the TPP. The TPP is somewhat similar, but it's US-Pacific islands, not US-EU.


Sath: actually, this is one one of those things where we kinda have a say.
They're doing this in secret because they fear public outrage, and with reason: public outrage lead to the EU Parliament rejecting ACTA, they fear a repeat.
So, spread the word, write your representatives (I will write to my MEPs about it, that's for sure), forward news on social networking sites, take to the streets if you can, do anything to draw attention to how bad this'll be for all americans and all europeans, except for a handful of CEOs.

[notorious bum]

Fucking hell, I can't keep up with all the Tomfoolery these days. I vaguely remember coming across this crap, it definitely hasn't received as much attention as the TPP. It can suck my TTIP, also.

[Ashmada]

These things don't receive a lot of attention from the media, indeed. Partly because the parties involved were actively trying to keep it secret.

As of now, Karel de Gucht reluctantly agreed to a (show) public consultation on this end. Questionnaire to fill, which he'll thoroughly ignore afterwards. I'll fill it anyway, just in case.
Not sure whether the US Trade Representative will do the same on your side of the pond.