Guardian: The US/EU TTIP deal hands British sovereignty to multinationals

[nationalize the fed]

Cameron’s and Ukip’s backing for a treaty that lets corporations devour public services exposes their duplicity

Owen Jones The Guardian, Sunday 14 September 2014


Roger Helmer, the Ukip MEP, said of the transatlantic trade and investment partnership: 'We have no alternative but to support the deal.' Photograph: David Sillitoe for the Guardian

“It’s a serious threat to British democracy from Brussels.” “Faceless EU bureaucrats threaten to impose laws without the consent of the British people.” Both these statements could succinctly, and accurately, describe the proposed transatlantic trade and investment partnership – TTIP – between the European Union and the United States. But David Cameron is not scuttling to Brussels to display his bulldog spirit as he vetoes an attack on our country’s sovereignty. Nor will you catch Ukip issuing chilling warnings about EU rule. On the contrary, the Ukip MEP Roger Helmer says: “We have no alternative but to support the deal.”

And don’t expect any front-page splashes from the Daily Mail – keen as it is to berate the EU over everything from regulations on the shape of bananas to imperial measurements – about the TTIP threat. In fact, there has been all too little media scrutiny of this menace, with the notable exception of my crusading colleague George Monbiot.

TTIP is being marketed by its champions as a de facto economic stimulus for ailing Europe, providing up to £100bn in extra growth. It is presented as a free trade agreement, but existing tariffs on either side of the Atlantic are already weak because of common membership of organisations such as the World Trade Organisation. The actual aim is to strip away obstacles to large corporations making profits – such as regulations that protect our privacy, the environment, food safety and the economy from a rapacious financial sector. And – crucially – TTIP further opens up public services to private companies motivated primarily by profit rather than people’s needs.

The key attack on democracy is an element of the treaty called investorstate dispute settlement (ISDS). If you are worried about the power of corporations over our democracy, be very afraid: ISDS in effect grants multinationals the same legal position as a nation-state itself, and allows them to sue sovereign governments in so-called arbitration tribunals on the grounds that their profits are threatened by government policies. Is this scaremongering, as TTIP supporters claim? Take Australia, which signed an investment treaty with Hong Kong in 1993. When Australia’s federal government introduced legislation to enforce plain cigarette packaging, the Asian arm of the cigarette company Philip Morris used the treaty to sue it...MORE
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/14/ttip-deal-british-sovereignty-cameron-ukip-treaty

First Comment by jays37:

The worse part is the inbuilt irreversibility of this US poaching scam. At least Merckel is sceptical.

Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Zbigniew Brzezinski and the TTIP:
Ambassador Brzezinski’s remarks to the International Chamber of Commerce

...I’d like to talk with you about the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a hugely important U.S.-EU effort to remove barriers to trade and to pave the way for job creation and increased economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic.

During President Obama’s historic visit to Sweden in early September, he had the opportunity to speak about TTIP at length with Prime Minister Reinfeldt, and also all the Nordic leaders. The President’s message is clear: “This is a historic opportunity for the U.S. and the EU”. He and his entire Administration are working in an inclusive and transparent manner to engage Congress and other stake-holders in the U.S. in the effort.

But we view the potential impact of TTIP as going well beyond trade and investment. It is a strategic bet on our shared future. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called it an ”economic NATO”. And NATO is much greater than the sum of its parts. Like NATO, TTIP is directly related to the major question of our times—what is the central mission of the West in the world today? We have an extraordinary opporutnity to craft a shared vision of the future. TTIP is a shared American-European vision of the future which, if consummated, will deepen, broaden, and diversify our ties over the years. It is a strategic vision of a re-vitalized West, the beginning of a transatlantic rennaissance from which the whole world will benefit. And a TTIP agreement for the twenty-first century with the bar set high will set the stage for future agreements with other trading partners....MORE
http://sweden.usembassy.gov/sp_11222013.html

Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatlantic_Trade_and_Investment_Partnership

[djean111]

1. And THIS is what Obama and Hillary are shilling -

The actual aim is to strip away obstacles to large corporations making profits – such as regulations that protect our privacy, the environment, food safety and the economy from a rapacious financial sector. And – crucially – TTIP further opens up public services to private companies motivated primarily by profit rather than people’s needs.

The key attack on democracy is an element of the treaty called investorstate dispute settlement (ISDS). If you are worried about the power of corporations over our democracy, be very afraid: ISDS in effect grants multinationals the same legal position as a nation-state itself, and allows them to sue sovereign governments in so-called arbitration tribunals on the grounds that their profits are threatened by government policies.

[woo me with science]

4. These politicians are not "centrists." They are not "moderates." They are not benign.

They are waging a direct assault on democracy.

[stillwaiting]

5. Absolutely. Nothing moderate about them on this matter. nt

[ballyhoo]

7. That is exactly what it is. They are fascists--every one

of them.

[Enthusiast]

10. +1

[Rod Beauvex]

2. I wonder.

I wonder if these trade agreements have influenced the Scottish Independence issue any? Has anyone heard?

[cali]

3. this has to be stopped. The TPP is mired down.

Hopefully, the TTIP will meet with some major resistance as well.

K&R

[BrotherIvan]

6. Memes

We need more memes. Memes make it all better.

[starroute]

8. Canada is already rushing into one of these deals with China

http://action2.davidsuzuki.org/undemocratic-trade-deal

Canada is on the verge of signing a 31-year trade deal that will give Chinese companies new powers over Canadian economic and environmental policy, as well as our right to speak out about them. . . .

Tell Prime Minister Harper you oppose plans to sign the Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement without debate in the House of Commons, examination by a legislative committee or provincial governments.

The agreement would allow China to sue Canada, outside of Canada and behind closed doors, if its investment interests were hindered – leaving little room for democratic oversight. For example, if the B.C. government were to stop the Northern Gateway pipeline, Canadians could be on the hook for millions, or billions in damages, and you might not be able to find out why. . . .

That the deal is being concluded with no public input, provincial consultation or parliamentary debate makes it part of a disturbing trend to ignore democratic processes and rush policy and legislative changes that could significantly affect the protection of our natural environment, as we have seen with the government’s two recent omnibus budget bills.


http://fipafacts.ca/

Our experience with NAFTA has shown us that bigger countries have the advantage in this unfair system. Canada has lost every case brought against us by a US company, costing us millions of taxpayer dolars.

India and Australia are both moving away from investor state arbitration because they’re tired of being sued by foreign companies. They are saying “yes” to trade and “no” to secretive lawsuits.

So what if this FIPA turns out to be a disaster? We can just get out of it, right? No, we can’t.

Unlike NAFTA, which we can leave with six months notice, this FIPA would lock us in for 31 years.

[Ichingcarpenter]

13. The China deal with Canada alows

mulit nationalcorporations not just Chinese corporations to run policy over national and provinciall interests ..... this is a really bad deal

[GeorgeGist]

9. Meanwhile, look over here ...

OMFG it's ISIS!!!

[Enthusiast]

11. Can you say smokescreen?

The real danger is right in front of us.

[Enthusiast]

12. Kicked and recommended!

[nationalize the fed]

14. ^