Legal opinion on EU-Mercosur trade deal
The European Commission has given indications that it is exploring options regarding the „legal basis“ of the EU-Mercosur association agreement. Likely on the table is a procedural trick to bypass […]
Connecting the Raw Materials Transition and the Energy Transition
This study highlights the urgent need for a more sustainable and equitable approach to the global energy transition. It emphasizes the importance of using metals more modestly and creating a […]
Metals for the energy transition
The paper investigates the role of metals in the energy transition, the impact of various sectors on metal demand, and the need for sector-specific reduction targets to ensure the sustainable […]
Energy Charter Treaty: How it drove up the costs of the German coal phase-out
This briefing highlights the role the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) has played in the German coal phase-out. It reveals that the ECT has influenced the coal phase-out in two important […]
Hot Metals for a Cooler Climate?
So far, technological solutions have been the primary means of stopping climate crisis. The aim for many is to continue the current way of working and living with as few […]
Energy Charter Treaty in Spain: From solar dream to legal nightmare
In the last 10 years, Spain has been subject to more investment arbitration lawsuits than any other country. It has received a total of 51 claims, of which 27 have […]
The reform of the Energy Charter Treaty fails to meet the EU’s objectives
The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) is a trade and investment agreement between countries in Europe and Asia that protects investments in the energy sector. Under the ECT, fossil fuel companies […]
Politically controversial, but weak in content: The China-EU Investment Agreement
The investment agreement between China and the EU is highly controversial – and its future uncertain. It is unclear whether and when it will be ratified by the European Parliament. […]
40 human rights and environmental NGOs warn against unnecessary and harmful delays to new sustainable battery rules
40 human rights and environmental NGOs are concerned to see a recent Council text proposing delays of up to four years for the introduction of rules aiming at reducing batteries’ […]
12 Arguments for a Raw Material Transition
This booklet demonstrates the various issues connected to human rights, development and the environment caused by the extraction, the processing and the consumption of raw materials. Those problems cannot be […]
Busting myths around the Energy Charter Treaty
A guide for concerned citizens, activists, journalists and policy makers The Energy Charter Treaty, an investment agreement for the energy sector, has recently been in the spotlight. No other treaty […]
Alternatives for the ‘Energy and Raw Materials Chapters’ in EU trade agreements
How trade agreements could strengthen human rights and environmental protection in the raw materials sector The European Union is one of the largest importers of raw materials, with its companies […]
Anchoring climate and environmental protection in EU trade agreements
How trade agreements could contribute to a more sustainable world economy In this report, Ciaran Cross takes on the task of thinking through what it would mean to integrate effective […]
Supply chain due diligence: China’s role in the international debate and setting of standards
The debate on mandatory human rights supply chain due diligence is gaining momentum. Legal regulations are discussed extensively both at the international level as well as in Germany. In this […]
International regulatory cooperation and the public good
How “good regulatory practices” in trade agreements erode protections for the environment, public health, workers and consumers The EU's Trade Agreement with Canada (CETA) is the first EU agreement to […]
The Dark Side of Digitalization:
Will Industry 4.0 Create New Raw Materials Demands? The digitalization of production processes, in Germany also known as Industry 4.0, promises economic growth in times of stagnation. According to business […]
Ruthless exploitation in the raw materials sector
How corporations are using the investment court system to enforce their interests On 14 October 2016, the Australian–Canadian mining business OceanaGold lost a USD 250 million lawsuit for compensation against […]
The Unhealthy side effects of CETA
The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the European Union and Canada is the first trade agreement between the EU and a major world economy and the most far-reaching […]
Without responsibility and transparency
Human rights risks along the nickel supply chain Being one of the biggest export nations, Germany is strongly dependent on raw material imports. Nearly 100 percent of the metallic primary […]
We make the rules!
How the EU intervenes in the sovereign fiscal policy of resource-rich countries Raw materials, including raw materials for energy production, as well as semi-finished products, and components make up two […]
Policy Paper Working Group on Raw Materials: Towards a Democratic and Globally Just Resource Policy
Towards a Democratic and Globally Just Resource Policy The Federal Republic of Germany depends on the import of metallic, mineral and fossil fuel resources. The extraction of these raw materials […]
Making Sense of CETA: 2nd edition
An analysis of the final text of the Canada–European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Seven years after negotiations began on the EU–Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), political […]
Investment protection in CETA: a critical analysis
The European Commission and Canada had the opportunity, in the final text of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), to drop the right of foreign investors to take recourse […]
Investment Protection in TTIP
How the European Commission refuses to change the system Berlin, 2 October 2015. The European Commission’s new proposal for an ‘investment court’ has been unable to diminish the wide-ranging public […]
International Investment Agreements Under Scrutiny
Bilateral Investment Treaties, EU Investment Policy and International Development International investment agreements (IIAs)1 pose serious threats to democracy and the rule of law, important European values to which we are […]
Making Sense of the CETA
An Analysis of the Final Text of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement More than five years after the May 2009 launch of negotiations between Canada and the […]
A Brave New Transatlantic Partnership
The proposed EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partners hip (TTIP/TAFTA), and its socio-economic & environmental consequences Talks between the European Union and the United States on a Transatlantic Trade and […]
Beginners Guide to Trade
The ‘Seattle to Brussels Network’ (S2B) was formed in the aftermath of the World Trade Organisation’s 1999 Seattle Ministerial to challenge the corporatedriven agenda of the European Union and its […]
Deciding our Future
NO to the Free Trade Agreement with the EU! We, the undersigned organisations – human rights organisations, trade unions, peasant farmer organisations, indigenous people’s organisations, Afro-descendants, victims of armed conflict, […]