This study warns that controversial investor protection rules in the proposed Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union could expose governments on both sides of the Atlantic to a wave of corporate lawsuits challenging environmental protection, financial supervision and other public interest regulations. Canadian and European groups are simultaneously launching the study about the dangers of CETA's investor-state dispute settlement mechanism (ISDS).
International trade and investment, deep integration
The WTO Public Forum in Geneva is an annual event bringing together civil society, unions, academics and member states to discuss pressing issues facing the global trade system—issues that are typically excluded from the narrow negotiating agenda at the WTO's Ministerial Conferences where agreements are made (or not, considering the stagnation of the current Doha Round of trade talks).
More than five years after the May 2009 launch of negotiations between Canada and the European Union toward a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), the federal government announced on August 5 that, "officials have reached a complete text, allowing translation and final legal review to commence." A week later, on August 13, German broadcaster ARD leaked more than 500 pages of the Canada–EU agreement, followed the next day by an additional 1,000 pages of annexes.
This report demonstrates in detail how the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) deal is unbalanced, favouring large multinational corporations at the expense of consumers, the environment, and the greater public interest.
OTTAWA—A new analysis of the recently leaked Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), demonstrates in detail how the deal is unbalanced, favouring large multinational corporations at the expense of consumers, the environment, and the greater public interest.
One of the most controversial elements of modern trade treaties is the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism, which allows foreign investors to bypass domestic courts and directly challenge government measures before unaccountable arbitration tribunals. ISDS is slated to be a key feature of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) currently being negotiated between the U.S. and the European Union (EU). The planned provisions are modelled on the ISDS mechanism in the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
(This article was first published by Rabble.ca as part of the Up! Canadian Labour Rising series.)
Originally published June 20, 2014 on TheTyee.ca
Despite its challenges over the last decade the auto industry is still a crucial contributor to the national GDP, exports, productivity, an important source of well-paying work and Canada’s second largest export, after petroleum. This study is the second in a series on Canada's Auto Industry by Unifor Economist Jim Stanford.