The Transnational Institute condemns the last minute decision to block dozens of civil society experts and campaigners from next week's World Trade Organisation summit in Argentina. The decision, apparently made by the Argentinian Government for undisclosed reasons, is unprecedented in recent WTO history.
Hyderabad/Amsterdam, July 20. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is being negotiated in Hyderabad, India this week (July 22). If signed, RCEP would grant corporations the exclusive right to bypass domestic legal systems and sue States at international tribunals whenever they feel government regulation can limit their profits. India is already the target of 40% of all cases filed against RCEP countries. The country also tops the ranking with regard to financial claims: India has been sued for at least 12.3 billion USD by foreign investors since 1994.
The Ecuadorian government announced yesterday that it will complete the process to terminate its remaining 16 Bilateral Investment Treaties. This decision is based on the recommendation of the audit commission’s 668 page report (In Spanish).
(Quito/Amsterdam, 3 May 2017) A unique international audit commission that examined the benefits and costs of Ecuador’s investment protection treaties will publish its findings on Monday 8 May. The report is to be released 5 days after Ecuador’s National Assembly recommended the government to terminate 12 remaining Bilateral Investment Treaties.
In an astonishing move which ignores the opinion of millions of citizens who oppose ISDS, the governments of Austria, France, Finland, Germany and the Netherlands (AFFGN) have made a sly attempt to institutionalise ISDS throughout the European Union. According to a leaked non-paper, on the 7th April representatives of these five nations made a proposal to the EU Council’s Trade Policy Committee which would in effect create a plurilateral treaty based on foreign investment protection within the EU. A move which was suspiciously followed by publication of a similar proposal on Business Europe’s website in what appears to have been a coordinated action.
A broad coalition of social movements from Latin America and Europe organise three days of mobilisation (8-10 June) in Brussels and Strasbourg to mark the EU-CELAC Summit (10-11 June)
As the European Parliament drafts its opinion on the controversial TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) talks, 375 civil society organisations from across Europe have called on EU decision-makers to protect citizens, workers, and the environment from the threats it poses.
Netherlands/Jakarta, 14 November 2014 - The announcement on November 13th of a US-India agreement on trade facilitation and India’s food security programme was denounced today by Transnational Institute and Serikat Petani Indonesia (SPI), the Indonesian Peasant Union Federation as a “victory for transnational corporations at the expense of peasant farmers.”
Amsterdam, 12-9-2014 - Een verzoek voor de lancering van een burgerinitiatief rond TTIP en CETA is op 10 september door de Europese Commissie afgewezen. De Europese Commissie weigert het initiatief te registreren omdat het buiten de bevoegdheden van de Commissie zou vallen. Maatschappelijke organisaties, waaronder TNI en SOMO, vinden dat de Commissie zeggenschap van burgers ondermijnt en roepen de nieuwe Commissie op om dit besluit terug te draaien.
Despite promises made during the negotiation process, the multiparty trade agreement between the EU, Colombia and Peru has not helped to improve the living conditions of the Colombian population. On the contrary, conflicts linked to export sectors and EU investment have continued and, in some cases, worsened.
European Citizens' Initiative demands: Stop negotiations for TTIP and CETA ECI-Registration 15 July 2015 – criticism: insufficient democratic participation and weakening of standards
Twenty country members of the United Nations Human Rights Council, representing a population of 3.8 billion people, voted today in favour of a historic resolution to build a binding treaty against TNC human rights abuses.
Brussels, Cologne, Madrid, May 12, 2014 - According to a leaked position paper and statements by trade officials, current proposals being floated as part of the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations would grant foreign governments and corporations an increased opportunity to influence public protections in both the European Union and the United States. This would include standards related to food safety, toxic chemicals, occupational health, and the protection of the environment.
De gemoederen liepen hoog op toen Bas Eickhout ter plekke zijn collega’s dwong stelling te nemen over de controversiële ISDS-clausule in TTIP. Deze clausule geeft bedrijven het exclusieve recht staten aan te klagen als nieuw beleid dreigt hun vermeende winsten te verkleinen.
The Alternative Trade Mandate pledge campaign was launched on 2 April in Brussels, calling on European Parliament election candidates to make EU trade and investment policy serve people and the planet, not just the profit of a few large corporations.
Last week, the Indonesian government announced that it will terminate its Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) with the Netherlands. With this move, Indonesia joins the growing number of countries concerned about the excessive corporate rights enshrined in investment agreements. Indonesia’s decision should be followed up with a broad debate on the need to review the increasingly controversial current investment protection framework, both in Indonesia and in the Netherlands, say Dutch and Indonesian civil society organisations IGJ, Both ENDS, SOMO and TNI.
Speculative investors are claiming more than 1,7 billion Euros in compensation from Greece, Spain and Cyprus in private international tribunals – for measures implemented to deal with economic crises, a new report released today by the Transnational Institute (TNI) and Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) reveals.
