Just before Christmas, the US Congress caved in to a ruling from the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and agreed that displaying the country of origin of beef and pork products should no longer be required. Canadian and Mexican meat producers (and the U…Read more…
ISDS: even when Governments win, we all lose
We’re often told we shouldn’t worry about Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) in the new generation of so-called ‘free’ trade agreements, because the UK Government doesn’t lose cases. In practice that’s because most UK agreements containing ISDS have been…Read more…
Vote no to CETA – TUC takes citizens’ petition to Brussels
This week, as TUC spokesperson on Europe, I handed in a petition to MEPs in the European Parliament from constituents asking them to reject the trade deal the EU is currently finalising with Canada, known as CETA. You may not have heard of CETA, but pe…Read more…
Trans-Pacific Partnership good for workers? The big lie
As the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, passes its final round of negotiations, the White House is going all out to portray the deal as a great gain for working people. US unions don’t agree, and they’ll be fighting the new generation trade deal between twelve countries around the…Read more…
Commission’s proposals for reforms to ISDS: new name, same danger
Last week EU Trade Commissioner Malmström announced proposals for a reformed version of the notorious Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions in TTIP. The new system of investment protection she described is called the ‘Investment Court System’, or ISD. Sounds similar to ISDS, doesn’t…Read more…
Millions say no to TTIP
Set to be one of the largest bilateral trade agreements every negotiated, TTIP – the mammoth EU-US deal currently being negotiated in secret – has also garnered mammoth media attention. The…Read more…
TiSA: threat to public services
Readers of Tribune will undoubtedly be aware of the transatlantic free trade agreement between the EU and the USA, known as TTIP. You may have heard about a similar agreement (which is all but signed…Read more…
What’s wrong with ISDS? Romania’s environment & history under attack
The latest example of what’s wrong with Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) – the privileged route to riches for foreign investors who can persuade a separate international court that they have been disadvantaged by a democratically-elected government – is a case being lodged…Read more…
ISDS-lite could yet scupper the EU-Canada trade deal
The TUC is no fan of the revised Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) process that EU Trade Commissioner Malmstrom has persuaded the European Parliament to back in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal between the EU and US…Read more…
Why investor protection matters so much in trade deals
The European Parliament will vote at last on Wednesday (unless the vote is postponed again, until the autumn) on the most toxic element of modern trade deals: investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). Like the rest of the European trade union movement, we’re calling on MEPs to exclude ISDS,…Read more…
TTIP, CETA, TISA: We need to call time on zombie trade deals
Trade affects everyone’s lives. It affects the job you can get, the pay you receive and of course the goods you can buy. But trade policy and negotiations like those being conducted for TTIP, CETA and TiSA affect a lot more than that, and come with huge risks for our society. I’ll be speaking…Read more…
Kicking the trade agreements can down the road
Trade deals are stalled due to popular pressure In both the European Parliament and Congress. What’s going on? When the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations were launched in 2013, veteran Tory politician Ken Clarke MP was at his most avuncular when he said that…Read more…
#TTIP with the US comes second: #CETA with Canada comes first
Trade deals haven’t been so high profile since the 1999 ‘battle for Seattle’, when the World Trade Organisation was met with a wave of anti-globalisation protests. In the US, first the Senate then the House of Representatives have seen pitched battles over ‘Fast Track’…Read more…
Where is the UK Parliament on the EU-US trade agreement?
This soon after a General Election, the short answer is that we don’t know. The Conservative majority, narrow though it is, suggests that the new House of Commons is more likely to support EU trade deals like the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the US and the…Read more…