Susan George chairs the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam. She says the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement could give powerful companies the right to challenge domestic laws which restrict their future profits.

A LEADING international political economist has warned that democracy is being damaged by the insidious creep of transnational corporations into government policy and their refusal to adopt country-by-country accounting practices, which have helped them avoid taxes.

Southern African governments must regain control over the negotiations on the trade deals known as economic partnership agreements (EPAs).

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission is hoping to boost EU-Latin American relations with the creation of a joint forum that will bring together the two sides on a permanent basis and launch of a new investment fund. But civil society organisations and some Latin American officials believe Europe is steadily abandoning its support for regional integration on the EU model on the continent.