Statement on Brussels round of TTIP negotations

Negotiators from the United States and the European Union have been meeting this week in Brussels to craft a massive trade deal: the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, also referred to as the Trans Atlantic Free Trade Agreement.

The negotiations that concluded today focused on the TTIP investment chapter. The U.S. seeks to include investor-state arbitration, which would allow investors to seek awards of money damages, of unlimited size, in compensation for the cost of complying with environmental and other public interest regulations, including climate change measures. Under existing trade agreement investment chapters and bilateral investment treaties, oil and gas and companies have repeatedly challenged countries’ environmental policies.

Michelle Chan, economic policy director for Friends of the Earth U.S., has this to say about the negotiations:

“A TTIP investment chapter would be a corporate power tool. It would allow Chevron and other energy giants to sue governments if environmental or other regulations interfere with their expected future profits by, for example, restricting oil and gas drilling, imposing pollution controls, or limiting the use of hydraulic fracturing. This would freeze in place our current dependence on fossil fuels, and result in climate disaster.”

Magda Stoczkiewicz, director of Friends of the Earth Europe also released a statement today saying: “It is unbelievable that the EU and U.S. are discussing plans to allow companies to sue governments if they see their profits affected by a democratically agreed decision. It is no exaggeration to say that this is a direct attack on democracy.”

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Contact:
William Waren, (202) 222-0746, [email protected]