Stop the Corporate Giveaway! A transatlantic plea for sanity in the EU–Canada CETA negotiations

(26 November 2013) On 18 October 2013 European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Canadian Prime Minister Steven Harper announced the conclusion of the negotiations on a European Union – Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). If it goes into effect CETA will include a so called Investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism, which is highly controversial and unnecessary. In response to the prospect of an ISDS chapter more than 100 organizations (including EPSU) signed a transatlantic statement opposing dangerous investor “rights” chapter in CETA asking governments on all levels to halt the agreement before it goes into effect.

ISDS effectively grant corporations greater legal rights than citizens by allowing them to challenge states in front of tribunals composed of trade lawyers that are independent of national or international jurisdictions, which is unnecessary in light of the well functioning court systems in the EU and Canada.

The inclusion of ISDS also puts a regulatory freeze on governments that prevents future regulation of services, investment, natural resources, environmental protection and public safety measures. Existing government policies in all these areas that have not been excluded from the agreement up front will be covered, making it difficult for countries to introduce new services or regulations in the future that affect however modestly the investment opportunities of foreign companies and investors. As governments hand away their capacity to regulate they also hand away their accountability, leaving citizens with nowhere to turn to defend their interests.

As a consequence of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Canada continues to face ISDS legal challenges from corporations (e.g. a partial moratorium on shale gas extraction in Quebec). Likewise, CETA does not provide adequate protection for legitimate public welfare objectives from investor challenges, and is likely to serve as a stepping stone for the US-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which is likely to have even more far reaching consequences.

Read the transatlantic statement opposing dangerous investor “rights” chapter in CETA