The draft European Parliament resolution on EU trade and investment negotiations with the United States of America aims for fake openness. Paragraph 21 of the draft resolution recalls the need for continuous and transparent engagement by the Commission with a wide range of stakeholders. I have visited some Civil Society Dialogues organised by the Commission. The Commission just states there are no problems and,...

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If countries do not want to defend themselves in investor to state dispute settlement (ISDR) cases, they better think twice before signing them, Mr H. Lee-Makiyama said yesterday. In that case, they better also think twice before giving the Commission a mandate to negotiate a trade agreement with the US, as they may not have a veto on the outcome. Mr Lee-Makiyama, director of...

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Mr Daniel Caspary, European People’s Party (EPP) coordinator International Trade Committee, said this morning that looking at draft negotiation texts does not make any sense. This morning the EPP group in the European Parliament organised a breakfast debate on the proposed trade agreement with the US (TTIP / TAFTA). The most interesting remark was about transparency. Many speakers at the meeting pointed out transparency...

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In this blog post I will argue that investor – state dispute settlement (ISDS) is not compatible with the EU Treaties. Summary: EU laws have to be compatible with the EU Treaties (including human rights). International agreements do not change this, EU laws implementing international agreements have to be compatible with the EU Treaties as well. The EU Treaties establish a complete system of...

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After the negotiations, the EU member states may not have a veto on the proposed trade agreement with the US (TTIP / TAFTA). I wrote earlier about some issues with the EU draft mandate for the EU – US trade agreement. In addition, I note that the draft TTIP mandate (pdf) does not mention criminal measures. Criminal measures were the reason that the EU...

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Today the European Parliament International Trade committee voted on a draft resolution on the EU – US trade agreement (TTIP / TAFTA). La Quadrature du Net summarizes it: EU Parliament Opens The Door to Copyright Repression in TAFTA. The INTA committee could have voted meaningful amendments into the draft resolution, but declined to do that. Intellectual property The committee adopted this compromise amendment: “Stresses...

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Today the FFII sent a letter to the European Parliament committee on International Trade. Thursday 25 April 2013 the committee will vote on 198 amendments to a draft resolution on the EU – US trade agreement (TTIP / TAFTA) Text as pdf, or below: 22 April 2013 Dear Members of the International Trade committee, We are writing to express our concerns with the proposed...

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25 April at 10 am, the European Parliament International Trade committee will vote on a draft resolution on the proposed EU – US trade agreement (TAFTA / TTIP). There are 198 amendments, on many subjects, like intellectual property out (especially from amendment 114), others aim at stronger IP, investor – state dispute resolution out (amendments 163, 164), more transparency. Some mention ACTA. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/organes/inta/inta_20130424_0900.htm agenda...

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Last week I wrote that the trade agreement with Singapore will be secret until it enters into force. The statement was based on an email from EU Trade Spokesperson John Clancy. It turns out this is not correct, the text will be published before the summer. When I first contacted Mr Clancy, the FFII email server was down. I used a personal email address....

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Update: Text of trade agreement with Singapore will be published before the summer ========================================================== (FFII press release) Text also below: Brussels, 12 April 2013 — The EU Commission decided to keep the trade agreement with Singapore secret until it enters into force. With this decision the Commission betrays European citizens and democracy, according to the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII). In December...

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