The fight against CETA, the free trade agreement between the European Union and Canada, is entering the next round. It is now time to revitalise the Europe-wide protest movement, which began in 2014. Because: Through the votes in the individual Member States, we can still stop CETA and win a victory for our democracy, climate and consumer protection and agriculture.
About the background:
CETA is a so-called mixed agreement. It regulates trade policy issues for which the EU is responsible and investment policy issues for which the Member States are responsible.
The EU has agreed to CETA, so that the trade part of CETA, which falls within its competence, has been provisionally applied since 2017.
The investment part is not yet in force, as not all member states have ratified it yet. Only with ratification by all Member States would CETA as a whole enter into force definitively.
To date, 17 of the 27 EU Member States have ratified CETA. Whether the other Member States will follow is questionable. If ratification were to fail definitively in one Member State, CETA would have failed as an overall package across the EU.
The At the end of March this year, the French Senate rejected the ratification of CETA., should the French National Assembly also reject it, CETA would not have been ratified in France. This could lead to an EU-wide failure. We need to take advantage of this momentum now. and give new impetus to the CETA protests across Europe! The other nine Member States that have not yet ratified CETA must do the same to France.
This requires European solidarity and a strong civil society commitment. We are excellently networked and work together with our European and Canadian partners to bring down CETA.
We provide our expertise to partner organizations to support legal processes and conduct national campaigns as in France. In order for us to continue to be active, we need your support.
WWhen CETA is ratified across Europe, more anti-climate lawsuits are threatened!
The previously unapplied Investment part of CETA includes group actions. These give investors the right to sue states before private arbitration tribunals if environmental decisions could affect their profits. That is why it is so important to prevent ratification by all means in the remaining Member States.
The current events once again show the urgency of a decisive fight against CETA: Just a few weeks ago, the EU Commission presented negotiating results, according to which corporate complaints are extended in CETA without the consent of the parliaments of the Member States and under the radar of the public. This treaty change is possible because CETA is a so-called living agreement. This means that The contents and agreements of the Agreement may be amended retrospectively.. This is a real democratic deficit. Parliaments no longer have to agree to this and have no way of preventing anything from changing for the worse.
Corporate lawsuits are a major obstacle to climate protection measures. Ratifying the investment part of CETA would lead to even more lawsuits. We can still stop CETA. We need to support ourselves across Europe and must not leave civil societies in the Member States which have not yet ratified alone. We need to bring the issue back into the public eye. For this we need your help!
European trade policy must make a shift towards greater sustainability
The European Union publicly pledges to play its part in achieving the Paris climate targets. However, it is exactly the opposite in trade and investment policy.
The current European trade policy leads to a maximisation of free trade. That has to change. Trade policy and trade agreements must be subordinated to climate objectives.
Corporate lawsuits have nothing to do with sustainable trade agreements. Companies must not be granted additional special rights in order to put pressure on states if they want to pursue a progressive climate policy.
PowerShift plays a central role in the fight against unfair and polluting free trade agreements: With numerous actions, studies, campaigns and lobbying, we repeatedly draw attention to risks and injustices, demand minimum standards and thus exert pressure on those responsible. Help ensure that trade policy puts climate protection and human rights before corporate interests in the future. Support our work.
Thank you for your support!
Yours
Alessa Hartmann
Trade and Investment Policy Officer
English (US)