Tag: Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)

Through a Freedom of Information Request, Access has acquired an important document that sheds light on the Home Affairs department of the European Commission’s relationship with the U.S. administration on the EU Data Protection Reform effort.

On Friday, July 25th, the German Government raised concerns over the current chapter on the controversial Investor-State Dispute Settlement (“ISDS”) included in the trade agreement between the EU and Canada – known as CETA – currently being discussed on both sides of the Atlantic. This announcement is indicative of the growing resistance to ISDS in trade agreements taking place in the European Union at the moment.

On July 14th, the European Union and the United States kicked off the sixth round of negotiations of what could be the world’s largest trade pact — the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The negotiations, which have been taking place for more than a year, are about opening markets on both sides of the Atlantic for exchange in goods, services, investment, and public procurement.

Earlier this week, European Digital Rights (EDRi), with the help of Access, Bits of Freedom, and Vrijschrift, published a citizens answering guide to the public consultation on the Investor-State Dispute Settlement launched by the European Commission in March and open for comment until July 6.

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a free trade agreement currently being negotiated between the United States and the European Union, aiming at increasing trade and (dangerously) seeking “regulatory coherence.” If adopted, TTIP would become the world’s largest free trade and investment agreement, opening both markets for exchange in goods, services, investment, and public procurement.

As two major international trade agreements are being negotiated, an increasingly contentious debate is taking place on the need to include an Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism. This mechanism enables companies to sue governments and challenge legislation in arbitration courts (outside of domestic judicial systems.

In the 14th and 15th hearings held by the committee for Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), Commissioner Viviane Reding, the Brazilian Parliamentary Inquiry Committee and Glenn Greenwald delivered important testimonies before the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). MEPs then presented the second part of their conclusions and working documents, the result of the thirteen inquiry meetings on the mass-surveillance programmes which aim to catalogue their recommendations aimed at preventing further violations of fundamental rights.

On the heels of the announcement of the newly kicked off EU-US Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA), also known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), Access joined a group of roughly 35 internet freedom organizations, public health groups, activists, and other public interest leaders to urge both the US and the EU to keep copyright, patents, trademarks and geographical indications — so-called “intellectual property” — out of the negotiations.