anonymous_abc
Member
If you were against ACTA you will likely want to be against TTIP/TAFTA.
TTIP, the US/EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (called TAFTA Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement in the US)
is a free trade agreement between two of the biggest economies in the world.
->Watch Me<-
Video Talk and Diskussion from reublica with Glyn Moody explaining the basic principles and problems of TTIP
YouTube
So what are (some of) the problems?
Transparency
As has always been the case in the past the discussions are being held behind closed doors. Even parliamentarians have no
access to them. This is not something that belongs into the 21st century, and considering the NSA probably listens in to all the
discussions anyway the only ones not in the know are the democratically elected parliamentarians and the general population.
The European Commission is currently trying to find ways to bypass national parliaments by not requiring their agreement on the matter.
Competition
One of the main aims of the TTIP agreement is increasing competition. All other aspects of our lives have been reduced to nice
to haves, not important and irrelevant. Social and environmental standards are being dropped and neglected in order to improve
competition. People can go and suck it up as long as big multinationals can make their money.
Public Services
Public services are to be liberalised. Everything will be put on the scale and only judged by cost and rentability. Proposals for
public assignments will only be allowed to take money into consideration, taking metrics such social and environmental impact
into account will become de facto illegal.
Lawsuits
Investor-State Dispute Settlements (a whole can of worms in itself) will become even more prevalent than they are already.
ISDS will allow transnational corporations to sue governments for any loss of future profits resulting from any government action,
such as the introduction of new laws to protect the public or the environment.
As a past example Uruguay implemented smoking bans and other health protection measures against tobacco. Phillip
Morris was then able to sue them for loss of future income. This undermines democracy at its core as parliaments are
not accountable to their electorate but big transnational corporations.
Agribusiness
As we all know the US and the EU have vastly different consumer protection standards. TTIP aims to harmonise these.
What might sound good if the US adopted EU standards, that is not going to happen and even if it did, it would pretty
much nail the current status quo for the forceable future. The EU would no longer be able to one sidedly increase its
standards in all manner of areas. And no one can seriously say we have reached the end of the road on consumer,
environment, animal welfare protection and such. We want to continue to improve these not set them in stone as they are.
Lobbying
The big corporations and lobbies have a huge influence on the whole agreement they are the ones who are first and foremost
heard on the matter, as 'they are the ones directly influenced' ignoring the fact that everyone will be directly influenced. The
whole setup is such that it is near impossible for NGOs and the general population to have their voices heard.
Energy
The controversial gas drilling technique of hydraulic fracturing which is seen very sceptically all over Europe would become
more economically viable for US energy companies as they could easily sell their gas to Europe for three times the price
they achieve in their domestic market.
Copyright
Copyright already has a high protection standard across both the US and the EU. TTIP would lead to massive extension of
protection on such things as medical research, and patented seeds. Things that the entire society would benefit from if it
where more freely available.
Get informed and spread the word.
In recent news.
300 peaceful protesters in Brussels were arrested and held without charge for many hours
tl;dr: Big business is trying to screw you over, as usual. But it's serious!
TTIP, the US/EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (called TAFTA Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement in the US)
is a free trade agreement between two of the biggest economies in the world.
->Watch Me<-
Video Talk and Diskussion from reublica with Glyn Moody explaining the basic principles and problems of TTIP
YouTube
So what are (some of) the problems?
Transparency
As has always been the case in the past the discussions are being held behind closed doors. Even parliamentarians have no
access to them. This is not something that belongs into the 21st century, and considering the NSA probably listens in to all the
discussions anyway the only ones not in the know are the democratically elected parliamentarians and the general population.
The European Commission is currently trying to find ways to bypass national parliaments by not requiring their agreement on the matter.
Competition
One of the main aims of the TTIP agreement is increasing competition. All other aspects of our lives have been reduced to nice
to haves, not important and irrelevant. Social and environmental standards are being dropped and neglected in order to improve
competition. People can go and suck it up as long as big multinationals can make their money.
Public Services
Public services are to be liberalised. Everything will be put on the scale and only judged by cost and rentability. Proposals for
public assignments will only be allowed to take money into consideration, taking metrics such social and environmental impact
into account will become de facto illegal.
Lawsuits
Investor-State Dispute Settlements (a whole can of worms in itself) will become even more prevalent than they are already.
ISDS will allow transnational corporations to sue governments for any loss of future profits resulting from any government action,
such as the introduction of new laws to protect the public or the environment.
As a past example Uruguay implemented smoking bans and other health protection measures against tobacco. Phillip
Morris was then able to sue them for loss of future income. This undermines democracy at its core as parliaments are
not accountable to their electorate but big transnational corporations.
Agribusiness
As we all know the US and the EU have vastly different consumer protection standards. TTIP aims to harmonise these.
What might sound good if the US adopted EU standards, that is not going to happen and even if it did, it would pretty
much nail the current status quo for the forceable future. The EU would no longer be able to one sidedly increase its
standards in all manner of areas. And no one can seriously say we have reached the end of the road on consumer,
environment, animal welfare protection and such. We want to continue to improve these not set them in stone as they are.
Lobbying
The big corporations and lobbies have a huge influence on the whole agreement they are the ones who are first and foremost
heard on the matter, as 'they are the ones directly influenced' ignoring the fact that everyone will be directly influenced. The
whole setup is such that it is near impossible for NGOs and the general population to have their voices heard.
Energy
The controversial gas drilling technique of hydraulic fracturing which is seen very sceptically all over Europe would become
more economically viable for US energy companies as they could easily sell their gas to Europe for three times the price
they achieve in their domestic market.
Copyright
Copyright already has a high protection standard across both the US and the EU. TTIP would lead to massive extension of
protection on such things as medical research, and patented seeds. Things that the entire society would benefit from if it
where more freely available.
Get informed and spread the word.
- Sign the Petition against TTIP
- StopTTIP.net
- Stop-TAFTA.info
- The European Commissions website about TTIP. 'All is well, there is nothing to be upset about, move along.'
In recent news.
300 peaceful protesters in Brussels were arrested and held without charge for many hours
International Business TimesA Belgian MP arrested yesterday for protesting against the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership has told
IBTimes UK that the police were in breach of the Belgian Constitution in making the arrest.
tl;dr: Big business is trying to screw you over, as usual. But it's serious!
Campact said:The proposed free-trade agreement TTIP between the EU and the USA serves the interests of corporations and not of citizens:
- TTIP undermines democracy and the rule of law : The agreement allows foreign corporations to sue countries for high
compensation in secretive, arbitration proceedings when countries pass laws that could reduce the profits.- TTIP opens the door to privatization : The agreement will make it easier for corporations to earn profits from the public water
supply and health and education systems, all at the publics expense.- TTIP endangers our health : Practices that are legally allowed in the U.S. would legally be permitted in the EU. This clears the
way for fracking , genetically-modified food production, and hormone-treated cattle. The agreement weakens the peasant and
family-farming agriculture and grants the agricultural industry even more power.- TTIP undermines freedom : The agreement opens the way for even more monitoring and surveillance of internet users. Excessive
copyright regulations restrict free access to culture, education, and science.- TTIP is practically irreversible : Once agreed upon , the contracts for elected politicians are essentially no longer am mendable
as every change requires agreement by all parties. Germany could not unilaterally decide to withdraw from the contract , as it is
the EU, and not Germany, who signs enters into the agreement.