WHAT IS TTIP?

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: february 2015 :: RMTnews 21 The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a comprehensive free trade and investment treaty currently being negotiated – in secret – between the European Union and the US. The main goal of TTIP is to remove regulatory ‘barriers’, ie national laws and regulations, which restrict the potential profits to be made by transnational corporations on both sides of the Atlantic. Campaigners haver warned that this could led to over one million jobs and hand global corporations the right to sue countries in secret courts if they refuse to privatise public services. Current ‘regulatory barriers’ being discussed in secret are in reality some of our most prized social standards and environmental regulations, such as trade union rights, food safety rules, regulations on the use of toxic chemicals, digital privacy laws and even new banking safeguards introduced to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis. In addition to this deregulation agenda, TTIP seeks to create new markets by opening up public services and government procurement contracts to competition from transnational corporations, threatening to introduce a further wave of privatisations in key sectors, such as health and education. Most worrying of all, TTIP seeks to grant foreign investors a new right to sue sovereign governments in front of ad hoc arbitration tribunals for loss of profits resulting from public policy decisions. This ‘investor-State dispute settlement’ mechanism effectively elevates transnational capital to a status equivalent to the nation-state itself, and threatens to undermine the most basic principles of democracy in the EU and US alike. Many states are already feeling the sting of investor- state disputes. For example the Swedish energy company Vattenfall is suing against Germany's decision to phase out nuclear power. In the US the use of such clauses in NAFTA has led to regulation- chilling cases, such as one £160 million case challenging a drilling moratorium in Québec. In the case of Tecmed v. Mexico a tribunal ruled that Mexico had not acted "free from ambiguity and totally transparently" when a local government decided not to re-license a waste treatment plant because of environmental concerns. Opposition to TTIP is growing along with the campaign to prevent pro- business government officials from signing away key social and environmental standards. All people are encouraged to join this resistance by getting in touch with their local campaigns. The charity War on Want has revealed that the European Commission’s own internal impact assessment acknowledged that there would be “prolonged and substantial” adjustment costs caused by TTIP could lead to the loss of over one million jobs. War on Want Executive Director John Hilary has written a pamphlet on TTIP which is available from: www.waronwant.org War on Want 44-48 Shepherdess Walk London N1 7JP Tel 020 7324 5040 support@waronwant.org ETF warned. RMT general secretary Mick Cash has written, in solidarity with the Canadian Maritime and Supply Chain Coalition, to urge the Canadian government to take the following steps in subsequent CETA negotiations: - To exclude shipping from the scope of CETA to prevent the elimination of thousands of Canadian jobs by weakening and abolishing the Cabotage laws; - To oppose any further proposals aimed at jeopardising jobs, skills and collectively bargained standards Canadian transportation sectors; - To provide assurances that CETA will not enter into force until it has been subject to full democratic scrutiny in the Canadian and European Parliaments; - To support calls for a referendum on the trade deal before it becomes law and any damage made irreversible. Ultimately TTIP and CETA negotiations are really seeking to massively weaken standards and regulations intended to protect people and our environment. A new report ‘Trading Away Democracy’ published by various NGOs, trade unions and campaign groups based in Canada and Europe warns that Canada’s experience with NAFTA has already opened the gateway to that country being sued 35 times. Canada has lost or settled six claims and has paid damages to foreign investors totalling over 171.5 million Canadian dollars. These investor-state lawsuits are decided by private commercial arbitrators who are paid for each case they hear, with a clear tendency to interpret the law in favour of investors. These companies would like to see any remaining ‘barriers’ to their profiteering to be removed, irrespective of the fact that the very reason for the creation of these rules is to protect people, consumers, and nature. If the CETA is signed and ratified with Investor-state dispute settlement intact, democracy will suffer while corporations gain new tools for frustrating any number of policies designed to protect the environment, public health, public services and the conservation of resources and, crucially, to make our society more sustainable and equitable. People, not corporations, should determine the future of the economy and society. WHAT IS TTIP?