At a time when most of the Europeans are feeling insecurity back home, a deal dictated mainly by the business interests of the US conglomerates has become another point of contention. In fact, the TTIP and the TPP are widely seen as imperial trading structures to wrest control over the Trans-Atlantic and Pacific States by the multinational corporations
Since the inception of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the United States of America (USA) and the European Union (EU) in early 2013, it has been creating more scaremongering than spreading the benefits of the trade deal. The TTIP is more ambitious in nature as it will help in recreating a strategic partnership between the US and the EU in the changed global political scenario. The transatlantic partnership once comes into force may have the potential to create the world’s largest free-trade and investment zone across the Atlantic. It is supposed to bring more shared prosperity to the two biggest trading blocs of the globe. It is slated to become the most significant bilateral free-trade agreement which will cover approximately 50 per cent of the global output, nearly 30 per cent of the world merchandise business and more than 20 per cent of global foreign direct investment. Thus an ambitious agreement may set a gold standard for trading between the US and the EU. The negotiations between these two main global players will also help in resolving many other stalled issues at the World Trade Organisation and in some other global forums.
It is argued by its advocates that free and open trade is the best and least expensive way to stimulate economic transactions in any part of the world. Its main aim is to remove the existing barriers in trade and investment so that the citizens on both sides of the Atlantic can enjoy the benefits of the new developments in the areas of health, safety, and environment in particular. Though the TTIP has started out as an obscure trade agreement which hardly received any media glaze and serious parliamentary debates so far, it provoked people across Europe to build up a movement against it. Once the EU trade commissioner named the TTIP as “the most toxic acronym of Europe” and it stunned the people around the world. The rhetoric speaks something else and the trade pact has serious consequences for the survival of the national Governments of the continent. It is going to change the way Europeans make decisions in their national parliaments and soon will be taken over by the corporate crooks. When it comes to the Brexiters who demand more of national sovereignty, they will not simply allow important decisions to be taken by US business houses in their public life. Those who want to remain in the EU, the TTIP is nothing but an advanced tool of the corporate to control the European political affairs. If this is the scene in Britain, the rest of the major countries of Europe, particularly France, Germany, Austria, etc, may also come up in arms against the trade agreement. And it has rightly happened and almost all the big nations of Europe are witnessing protest against the TTIP.
There has been a recurring concern in public that the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) will finally bypass the domestic national courts and parliaments of the EU. Under the lisbon Treaty, when the European Commission negotiated the investment agreements with the US on behalf of the EU members, it did talk about the ISDS. The EU’s official version says that “The EU wants the TTIP to offer protection for EU firms when they invest abroad. The ISDS is a way to do this. The ISDS has existed for decades and EU countries already have some 1,400 ISDS agreements in place, including as part of their investment treaties with countries outside the EU.” Thus the ISDS is all about not making the foreign companies feel high and dry when the national courts cannot solve their disputes. But then the question is if the national courts can’t solve some rare business litigations, who else can do itIJ Under the TTIP, it is a group of corporate lawyers appointed by the respective business houses who can finally even take call against the Government of a particular country. Hereafter, no ordinary individual will be left in doubt that the ISDS can easily sue national parliaments and take actions if required. This is an utter insult and usurpation of the sacrosanct boundaries of the national Governments and their established judicial systems revered by people for ages.
Ironically, the EU’s official brochure on the TTIP says, “The successful trade negotiations are best achieved away from the public spotlight.” This is indeed bringing more confusion and fear to the people. From the very beginning, the TTIP provisions should have been made public as the negotiations started way back in the mid of 2013. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which is also a very controversial trade deal of the 21st century, was approved by its entire 12 member-nations group across the Asia-Pacific last October. Now the TPP is awaiting the legislative nods from the respective nations. Despite having differences among its members, the TPP has gone ahead as all its members were convinced about its potential benefits though there were caveats too. Therefore, the fact that the TTIP is not moving further even between the two of the closest trade blocs of the world is raising concerns in public.
But many says that the failure to bring the TTIP and its high standards of doing business, Intellectual Property protection, level-playing fields, environmental protection and transparency will cede the huge business opportunities to other trading blocs which are less protective to global firms. The
stakes are, therefore, high. Thus the US and the EU must ratify the TTIP for making the global business see new heights in transaction and transparency. But in reality it is not so as “we the people” are virtually kept out of this historic treaty till date. It is an assault on the European and the US societies by the transnational corporations. There are reasons to be worried about the completion of the deal.
The majority of the nations in the EU do not allow many of the varieties of the genetically modified seeds and plants that America wants to export to them. The US corporations are trying hard to enter the deal so that they can capture the EU’s big market. This may cause concerns and may eventually lead to the collapse of the deal. Currently the hormone-enriched beef and chlorine-washed chickens from the US are banned in the EU, but the former wants them to be included in the TTIP. So these issues will become critical in finalising the deal.
The national health services are facing an existential crisis in some countries like the UK. As one of the main aims of the TTIP is to open up the public health services, water and education to the US private corporations and this will mean the mass privation of the major sectors. Though the European Commission had already committed that the national health services will be kept out of the TTIP, still they are not. Though the deal is seen as a hot potato, hitting the health services and welfare measures across Europe may finally either scuttle the trade pact or may have to put the deal under serious revision for sure.
The TTIP and the TPP are widely seen as imperial trading structures to wrest control over the Trans-Atlantic and Pacific States by the multinational corporations. Though all of them talk about regulatory convergence, in reality they have nothing to do with free trade. The TTIP demands conformity and similarity in the making of national rules and provisions to facilitate the MNCs which directly go against the sovereignty of the nation-states. Whereas the regulatory convergence means removal of trade barriers and creation of investment opportunities accompanied by hassle-free provisions for ease of doing business. Thus critics say that Washington has viewed national sovereignty as an impediment to regulatory convergence. Meanwhile, the Austria is asking its EU counterparts to end the TTIP talks. As the TTIP has become a metaphor for the exuberant dealings of the big corporations, Austria is pitching for a better deal. Much before that France and Germany put forward their strong reservations for halting the TTIP negotiations. With damning revelations about the treaty, French Government was forced to request for discontinuing the negotiations on the TTIP. President Francois Hollande stated that France would refuse “the undermining of the essential principles of our agriculture, our culture of mutual access to public markets.” Besides the official trade representative from France says that “there cannot be an agreement without France and much less against France.” This reflects how deeply the TTIP is raising fears in the core group of the EU. If it goes in this fashion, the future of the TTIP will be obviously bleak.
It seems the US is demanding too much and is not ready to compromise enough while trading with the EU. Particularly in Europe, after the Brexit move, trade is considered as more or less a synonym for big business to take over. Public anger is so much that it can derail any deal whatsoever it may be. Why is it soIJ The feeling of insecurity and loss of jobs, coupled with massive migrations from troubled parts of the globe, is making the Europeans refugees at their own homelands. Once again powerful and imperial powers are looking for support and assistance from the US and China. Today, the European continent is in tatters and it does not have the will and power to shake the world. It mainly depends on the US and China to feed their economies. At a time when most of the Europeans are feeling insecurity back home, a deal dictated mainly by the business interests of the US conglomerates has become another point of contention. Hence, passing the deal by the EU will be extremely difficult.
From Hawaii to Helsinki, the TTIP is slated to open opportunities and bring forth a new regime of global trade. The EU head office at Brussels is currently grappled with the post-Brexit complexities, Russian expansionism, crisis in Syria, global terrorism and most importantly, the massive migration flow from war-torn nations of West Asia. Thus deep-seated fears are emerging across Europe about the fallout of the TTIP as it is largely projected as the US takeover of the continent. Around the same time, the probability of the near finalisation of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) deal is seen as a backdoor arrangement to push the TTIP. It is treated as the TTIP in disguise. As the CETA has less controversial provisions, it is closer for ratification by the Canadian Parliament and France is also not opposing the same in EU. Since there are mounting public pressure on the EU Governments over the TTIP, hence there significant reasons to push the CETA. And the CETA will in practice validate the eventual de facto implementation of the American sponsored TTIP. Or once the CETA is done, the formal adoption of the TTIP may happen sooner or later. But currently elections are approaching in the US, Germany and France. This is making it near impossible for these countries to complete the deal.
Most importantly, the public sentiment is against the TTIP and no politician will raise any attempt to seal the deal and it may lead to substantial loss of support in the elections. Washington and Brussels are officially committed to seal the TTIP before Barack Obama leaves office in January. let’s see how the big gambit goes as this will virtually script another legacy of Obama.
(The writer is Senior Editor, The Pioneer)