Tagged with ISDS

TTIP and the rule of law: a response to Jude Kirton-Darling MEP

No TTIPThanks to Jude Kirton-Darling MEP for replying to our previous article. No-one could suggest she was capable of doing anything ‘shabby’. We are grateful that it is she, not us, who has to deal with the complex procedures of the European Parliament which she describes. We make several points of substance by way of response.

Investor protection and ISDS

First, the form of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) proposed by the European Parliament’s International Trade Committee, whilst an improvement on the original ISDS, is utterly unacceptable. ISDS in that or any other form still gives a unique legal privilege to multinational corporations to sue governments outside the democratically scheme of laws and courts of the EU and its Member States. On this we and Jude appear to be in total agreement. Continue reading →

Labour & social democrat MEPs back a shabby compromise on TTIP

No TTIPThe Socialist and Democratic group of MEPs (which includes UK Labour) have agreed to a “shabby compromise” supporting TTIP, leaving all the most unjust elements of the deal intact say Professor Keith Ewing and John Hendy QC

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is the secret trade deal currently being negotiated between the EU and the US. Its text is a closely guarded secret shared only by the negotiators, including representatives of multinational corporations.

Drafts are withheld from both MEPs and members of all the European national parliaments, as well as US Congress and Senate members. Continue reading →