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European citizens support Stop TTIP call for the European Parliament to reject Investor State Dispute Settlement provisions when voting on upcoming resolution.
Berlin (09 June 2015) — More than 2 million European citizens have signed the European Citizens’ Initiative Stop TTIP a few days ahead of a critical vote on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) in the European Parliament. The inclusion of Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions is the primary issue of concern.
The vote will also have a significant impact on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) which contains ISDS language.
Important vote in European Parliament
On June 10, the European Parliament will vote on a resolution concerning TTIP.
Michael Efler, a member of Stop TTIP’s Citizens’ Committee, commented that “2 million people are demanding to stop the negotiations on TTIP. Members of the European Parliament should remember this when making their vote. The draft resolution is weak in that it welcomes the inclusion of investor-state-dispute-settlement (ISDS) in TTIP."
Efler further says that TTIP "would allow corporations to sue governments in private courts for practically any state action that interferes with investments and lowers their expected profit, a practice that would undermine the rule of law and democratic principles.”
Calls for rejection of ISDS
"At the very least, the European Parliament should take a clear stance against ISDS" said Efler. "All the improvements to ISDS that have been proposed by the European Commission and European Social Democrats are insufficient. The problem remains that ISDS would constitute a parallel justice system for investors that would be unnecessary, dangerous for democracy and could prove very costly for taxpayers. If no clear statement against ISDS is included in the resolution, the European Parliament would do better to reject it all together.”
A broad alliance of organizations
Stop TTIP is carried out by an alliance of more than 470 civil society organizations – consumer watchdogs, environmental groups and trade unions – from right across Europe. Signature collection will continue until October 6 to increase political pressure further.
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