Today the controversial EU-US trade and regulatory cooperation deal TTIP took one step forward and one step back .
The European Parliament’s vote on TTIP supported some important improvements to the proposed deal, but largely ignored public concern about special legal treatment for foreign investors.
The Parliament did support the ETUC’s proposals that
• UN International Labour Organisation standards – such as the right to join a trade union - be included and enforceable in TTIP
• regulatory cooperation maintains the highest levels of protection of health and safety in line with the precautionary principle
“The Parliament’s vote to reform ISDS defies public opinion, and keeps alive big business’ hopes for special legal privilege” said Bernadette Ségol, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). “It will enable big business, and big business only, to challenge policy decisions they don’t like. No-one will be fooled by the Parliament’s idea of abolishing the old ISDS and bringing in a new one: it just delays the real decisions.”
