The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) “is an issue that is sexy right now”, according to European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström, commenting on 23rd February while attending the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) conference on the subject. TTIP might be sexy, but there is no love these days as EU opposition is growing and consolidating. This could be considered rather sad given the worthy transatlantic vision of deeper European and American economic co-operation and integration, driven essentially by lower tariffs and reduced regulatory barriers. But from Germany, via France all the way to Greece, protagonists at this time on euro issues, have a common beef against TTIP. The issue of the moment is investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) clauses which would allow foreign (so American) companies to bypass local country level courts and instead appeal directly to the international arbitration panels. Meanwhile, the UK as ever concerned by the more mundane issues such as its National Health System (NHS) see’s TTIP as concerted US commercial efforts to undermine the much venerated institution. Perhaps help will come from Greece, where Georgios Katrougkalos, deputy minister for administrative reform in Greece’s new SYRIZA government declared heroically, “I can assure you that a Parliament where SYRIZA holds the majority will never ratify the [EU-US free trade] deal. And this will be a big gift not only to the Greek people but to all the European people.”
ISDS is currently under discussion in the European Parliament's International Trade Committee; there is a vote on the issue slated for 6 May. This debate has enabled country level discussion to crystallize, as now is the time, and ISDS could be the issue to derail the whole TTIP train. In the process, some political figures are getting noticed, such as Bernd Lange a German Member of the European Parliament (MEP), for the Socialists and Democrats group in the European Parliament, who is credited with having written a report objecting to the principal of using independent tribunals with power to overrule national policies. There is precedent for this concern right now in Europe, as Swedish energy giant Vattenfall has brought claims against the German government. Vattenfall has two international arbitration cases against Germany, the 2nd at the World Bank seeking €4.7bn in compensation for Berlin’s decision to phase out nuclear power after the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan, which led to the closure of Vattenfall’s two atomic power stations in Germany. Another example, outside Europe, is US tobacco giant Philip Morris that sued the Australian government over plain packaging for cigarettes, leaving a bad taste in the mouth for all concerned! The TTIP perspective starts from the viewpoint that international trade deals usually ensure that foreign investors are assured of: Protection against discrimination (no national favouritism), Protection against arbitrary or unfair expropriation, Protection over fair legal procedures and Guarantees to allow transfers of capital. This protection does go both ways, so for European businesses in the US, in dealing with the US administration. Think BP recently.
Ongoing discussions were held re the above by both the European Commission (EC) and the Parliament (EP). On 2-6 February, the 8th round of the TTIP negotiations was held between the EU and the US, which took place in Brussels. As ever there were stakeholder events, to ensure vested interests were addressed. The EC issued another TTIP consultative paper in Europe soliciting feedback, which they got! An unprecedented 150,000 public responses, many of which were identical, (re)submitted by an array of pressure groups. Going for a record, the UK campaign group, 38 Degrees, submitted 50,000 responses! So who are these guys? I went to their site to check them out. The home page states: 38 Degrees is the angle at which an avalanche happens. In the UK, 38 Degrees will enable people to act together, to create an avalanche for change. OK I get that, and then? The NHS, permanently in crisis, nevertheless celebrating 67 years, is a perennial political hot potato in the UK. The mantra by assorted protectors of this national icon is “Save our NHS” at all costs. They find everywhere forces seeking to squeeze funding, undermine and privatize the UK public health system, that they maintain is the best such institution in the world. Health services, medical services (including midwifery and physiotherapy) and dental services across Europe are all included in the TTIP negotiations, are apparently to be traded away and will in future be irreversibly opened up to (unwanted?) US corporations. Meanwhile, the EP is working, rather struggling on its position on TTIP. The international trade committee, which is responsible for drafting the EP’s position, discussed recommendations and 10 out of the 13 committees contributed to the report. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) will vote on TTIP before the summer break.
Across Europe, there are many anti-TTIP publications available, on web sites and off line papers and pamphlets, covering a broad range of sectors and vested interests that incumbents seek to protect. High on the list in terms of services to be excluded from TTIP, for the so called public benefit, include education, health, water and rail transport. The deregulation agenda, reduced regulatory barriers, which are at the heart of the negotiations are considered the basis of the problem. An example cited of a service sector successfully excluded from TTIP is audio-visual services, considered to be yet another French victory for the “’exception française”. Depending upon your point of view, with regards to “One man’s subsidy is another man’s tax.”, for decades to come European citizens will continue to subsidize audio-visual services, notably French. Back in September 2014, a coalition of trade unions and NGO interests published their “TTIP mythbuster”, their conclusion is that the much touted economic benefits to be derived from TTIP are false, as; “growth and prosperity are not likely”, “>1 million to lose their jobs”, “no extra investment, but major costs” and of course “ public services under threat”. It is a great read, do click through, and make up your mind: is TTIP sexy right now?
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