CETA critics force Europe, Canada to revise trade pact: Walkom
[ http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016 ... alkom.html ]
The changes may not satisfy critics of the Canada-European Union deal. But the revised pact is better.
By: Thomas Walkom National Affairs Columnist, Published on Wed Mar 02 2016
The elusive Canada-European Union trade and investment agreement was pronounced a success this week — again.
[ http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016 ... s-say.html ]
It’s still not a done deal. The pact, formally known as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), must pass the European Parliament.
Depending on the outcome of an unrelated court case, it may also have to be ratified by each of the European Union’s 28 member states.
But that didn’t stop International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland from lauding the agreement as “gold-plated” Monday. She said she expects it to come into force next year.
She may be optimistic.
This marks the third time since free-trade negotiations between Canada and the EU began in 2009 that Ottawa has declared victory in its search for a trade pact with Europe.
Former prime minister Stephen Harper congratulated himself in 2013 when an agreement in principle was hammered out and again in 2014 when formal negotiations ended.
Freeland said Monday that the delay since then has simply been a matter of “dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s” of the legal text.
In fact, it was much more. Under intense political pressure at home, the European side forced Canada to renegotiate a controversial part of the agreement that would allow private firms to challenge and ultimately strike down laws that might interfere with profit-making.
Under the renegotiated terms, companies would still have this right. But the adjudicators who heard such cases would not be chosen, as originally envisioned, by the disputants. Instead they would come from a 15-member permanent trade tribunal appointed by governments.
There would also be a right of appeal. As well, the renegotiated text gives more leeway to governments to regulate in the public interest.
Critics don’t think this is enough. Maude Barlow of the Council of Canadians says the reworked pact still gives foreign companies a unique forum in which they can challenge domestic laws.
Osgoode Hall law professor Gus Van Harten says the changes do make the dispute settlement system less open to conflict-of-interest on the part of adjudicators.
He also welcomes clearer references to a government’s right to regulate, which, he says, provides a “modest counterbalance” to the very generous rights awarded foreign investors.
But he says that the changes are still insufficient to deal with a dispute resolution system that, like the one imbedded in the North American Free Trade Agreement, gives rights to companies that ordinary people don’t enjoy.
Still, that any changes have been made at all to this pact speaks to the ability of critics to mobilize opposition.
In Canada, CETA has been very much a non-issue. It is expected to raise the price of pharmaceuticals — which would put more pressure on governments (like Ontario’s) to scale back their drug-benefit programs.
It would hurt the cheese and auto industries and make it harder for provinces and municipalities to give preference to local suppliers.
MORE:
[ http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016 ... alkom.html ]
CETA critics force Europe, Canada to revise trade pact
3 posts
• Page 1 of 1
CETA critics force Europe, Canada to revise trade pact
by Oscar » Wed Mar 02, 2016 9:02 am
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9143
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
Re: CETA critics force Europe, Canada to revise trade pact
by Oscar » Wed Mar 02, 2016 9:47 am
Canada agrees to special court for transnationals to sue governments with CETA
[ http://canadians.org/blog/canada-agrees ... ments-ceta ]
February 29, 2016 - 3:01pm
While negotiations on the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) were concluded almost three years ago, Canada and the EU announced today that they have agreed to changes to the controversial investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provision in the yet-to-be ratified deal.
Reuters reports, "In a statement, Canada and the EU said they had made changes to increase the rights of governments to regulate and set up a permanent and transparent tribunal to settle disputes. 'We have responded to Canadians, EU citizens, and businesses with a fairer, more transparent system ... We are confident that CETA will be signed in 2016 and will enter into force in 2017', the statement said." [ http://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-ca ... SKCN0W21Z7 ]
According to the news report, Canada and the EU now say:
• governments would be free to set policies, "even those that hit investors' profit expectations"
• the tribunal would not work in secret
• the tribunal would be chosen by governments, rather than partly by investors
• there would be the right to appeal its decisions
• they would seek to create a permanent multilateral investment court in the future.
While details on this are sparse at this point, these amendments were reportedly made somehow during a "legal review" of the deal without technically reopening negotiations.
Canadian trade minister Chrystia Freeland says, "I'm absolutely confident that Canadian investors and Canadian businesses will have their rights fully protected in this agreement." [ http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada- ... -1.3468802 ]
That's very likely the case, and to the detriment of the public good.
CBC reports, "The Council of Canadians, which had been in Europe trying to mobilize opposition to the investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism, said today's announcement was 'smoke and mirrors'. 'It still enshrines corporate rights and enables giant European corporations to sue the Canadian government', said Garry Neil, executive director of the Council of Canadians in a written statement. 'Tinkering with the dispute settlement process doesn't change this fundamental flaw.'" Reuters also reports, "The Canadian consumer rights group Council of Canadians called it 'smoke and mirrors', while Friends of the Earth Europe described CETA as dangerous and said it should be rejected." [ http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada- ... -1.3468802 ]
When EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström first proposed to reform the ISDS provision in the United States-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow commented, "This reform still fails to require foreign investors - like everyone else, including domestic investors - to go to a country's domestic courts before seeking an international remedy. The proposed investment court system still gives a special status to foreign corporations by allowing them to challenge the laws that apply to everyone else through a special system outside established court systems."
Today, Barlow stated, “This is a dangerous new way to give transnational corporations their own court, which local companies and groups can’t access. These changes don’t address the concerns that led to the massive public outcry over ISDS in both Canada and Europe.”
Our allies including War on Want, Transport & Environment, and Friends of the Earth Europe oppose the European reform of ISDS. Global Justice Now has highlighted that 97 per cent of respondents in a consultation rejected investor-state provisions in any form. French MEP Yannick Jadot says, "It is necessary that Member States hear that European citizens do not just want a change at the margin of the arbitration, but removal of the provision." And MEP Ska Keller says, "[This] would be little more than a PR stunt, ignoring the core of the problem. The proposal changes nothing about the fact that investors get an extra-judicial system that will only deal with their rights, not their obligations."
It is expected that CETA will go before the European Parliament for ratification votes either in late 2016 or early 2017. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has already instructed trade minister Chrystia Freeland "to implement" CETA.
For more on our campaign against CETA, please click here:
[ http://canadians.org/ceta ]
Further reading
Trudeau reportedly pressuring India against reform of ISDS provision (Feb. 17, 2016)
[ http://canadians.org/blog/trudeau-repor ... -provision ]
Tags: Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS)
[ http://canadians.org/tags/isds ]
Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ http://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]
= = = = =
CETA critics force Europe, Canada to revise trade pact: Walkom
[ http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016 ... alkom.html ]
The changes may not satisfy critics of the Canada-European Union deal. But the revised pact is better.
By: Thomas Walkom National Affairs Columnist, Published on Wed Mar 02 2016
The elusive Canada-European Union trade and investment agreement was pronounced a success this week — again.
[ http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016 ... s-say.html ]
It’s still not a done deal. The pact, formally known as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), must pass the European Parliament.
Depending on the outcome of an unrelated court case, it may also have to be ratified by each of the European Union’s 28 member states.
But that didn’t stop International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland from lauding the agreement as “gold-plated” Monday. She said she expects it to come into force next year.
She may be optimistic.
This marks the third time since free-trade negotiations between Canada and the EU began in 2009 that Ottawa has declared victory in its search for a trade pact with Europe.
Former prime minister Stephen Harper congratulated himself in 2013 when an agreement in principle was hammered out and again in 2014 when formal negotiations ended.
Freeland said Monday that the delay since then has simply been a matter of “dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s” of the legal text.
In fact, it was much more. Under intense political pressure at home, the European side forced Canada to renegotiate a controversial part of the agreement that would allow private firms to challenge and ultimately strike down laws that might interfere with profit-making.
Under the renegotiated terms, companies would still have this right. But the adjudicators who heard such cases would not be chosen, as originally envisioned, by the disputants. Instead they would come from a 15-member permanent trade tribunal appointed by governments.
There would also be a right of appeal. As well, the renegotiated text gives more leeway to governments to regulate in the public interest.
Critics don’t think this is enough. Maude Barlow of the Council of Canadians says the reworked pact still gives foreign companies a unique forum in which they can challenge domestic laws.
Osgoode Hall law professor Gus Van Harten says the changes do make the dispute settlement system less open to conflict-of-interest on the part of adjudicators.
He also welcomes clearer references to a government’s right to regulate, which, he says, provides a “modest counterbalance” to the very generous rights awarded foreign investors.
But he says that the changes are still insufficient to deal with a dispute resolution system that, like the one imbedded in the North American Free Trade Agreement, gives rights to companies that ordinary people don’t enjoy.
Still, that any changes have been made at all to this pact speaks to the ability of critics to mobilize opposition.
In Canada, CETA has been very much a non-issue. It is expected to raise the price of pharmaceuticals — which would put more pressure on governments (like Ontario’s) to scale back their drug-benefit programs.
It would hurt the cheese and auto industries and make it harder for provinces and municipalities to give preference to local suppliers.
MORE:
[ http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016 ... alkom.html ]
= = = = = = =
RELATED:
St. John's chapter questions constitutionality of abandoning MPRs for CETA - March 1, 2016
[ http://canadians.org/blog/st-johns-chap ... -mprs-ceta ]
The St. John's chapter is questioning the constitutionality of abandoning Minimum Processing Requirements (MPRs) for the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
McKenna claims CETA is "a green trade deal" - February 29, 2016
[ http://canadians.org/blog/mckenna-claim ... trade-deal ]
Federal environment minister Catherine McKenna is claiming that the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is "a green trade deal".
Canada, EU settle problems on trade deal, say could be in force in 2017 - Feb. 29/16
[ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o ... e28946075/ ]
'Like Putting Lipstick on a Pig': Changes to CETA Make it More Corporate-Friendly Deal - Feb. 29/16
[ http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/0 ... endly-deal ]
'A PR stunt that does nothing but put a Good Housekeeping seal of approval on an already flawed system'
QUOTE: "the new changes would still allow arbitrators to ""moonlight as lawyers with the very same corporations that are launching these cases,"" Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians"
Canada moves a step closer to ratifying 'gold-plated' trade deal with EU - Feb. 29/16
[ http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada- ... -1.3468802 ]
iPolitics - "Liberals modify CETA’s investor dispute clause as deal clears legal scrub.
[ https://ipolitics.ca/2016/02/29/liberal ... gal-scrub/ ]
""Some longstanding opponents of CETA and investor-state dispute settlement, however, see the changes as window dressing.""
[ http://canadians.org/blog/canada-agrees ... ments-ceta ]
February 29, 2016 - 3:01pm
While negotiations on the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) were concluded almost three years ago, Canada and the EU announced today that they have agreed to changes to the controversial investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provision in the yet-to-be ratified deal.
Reuters reports, "In a statement, Canada and the EU said they had made changes to increase the rights of governments to regulate and set up a permanent and transparent tribunal to settle disputes. 'We have responded to Canadians, EU citizens, and businesses with a fairer, more transparent system ... We are confident that CETA will be signed in 2016 and will enter into force in 2017', the statement said." [ http://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-ca ... SKCN0W21Z7 ]
According to the news report, Canada and the EU now say:
• governments would be free to set policies, "even those that hit investors' profit expectations"
• the tribunal would not work in secret
• the tribunal would be chosen by governments, rather than partly by investors
• there would be the right to appeal its decisions
• they would seek to create a permanent multilateral investment court in the future.
While details on this are sparse at this point, these amendments were reportedly made somehow during a "legal review" of the deal without technically reopening negotiations.
Canadian trade minister Chrystia Freeland says, "I'm absolutely confident that Canadian investors and Canadian businesses will have their rights fully protected in this agreement." [ http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada- ... -1.3468802 ]
That's very likely the case, and to the detriment of the public good.
CBC reports, "The Council of Canadians, which had been in Europe trying to mobilize opposition to the investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism, said today's announcement was 'smoke and mirrors'. 'It still enshrines corporate rights and enables giant European corporations to sue the Canadian government', said Garry Neil, executive director of the Council of Canadians in a written statement. 'Tinkering with the dispute settlement process doesn't change this fundamental flaw.'" Reuters also reports, "The Canadian consumer rights group Council of Canadians called it 'smoke and mirrors', while Friends of the Earth Europe described CETA as dangerous and said it should be rejected." [ http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada- ... -1.3468802 ]
When EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström first proposed to reform the ISDS provision in the United States-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow commented, "This reform still fails to require foreign investors - like everyone else, including domestic investors - to go to a country's domestic courts before seeking an international remedy. The proposed investment court system still gives a special status to foreign corporations by allowing them to challenge the laws that apply to everyone else through a special system outside established court systems."
Today, Barlow stated, “This is a dangerous new way to give transnational corporations their own court, which local companies and groups can’t access. These changes don’t address the concerns that led to the massive public outcry over ISDS in both Canada and Europe.”
Our allies including War on Want, Transport & Environment, and Friends of the Earth Europe oppose the European reform of ISDS. Global Justice Now has highlighted that 97 per cent of respondents in a consultation rejected investor-state provisions in any form. French MEP Yannick Jadot says, "It is necessary that Member States hear that European citizens do not just want a change at the margin of the arbitration, but removal of the provision." And MEP Ska Keller says, "[This] would be little more than a PR stunt, ignoring the core of the problem. The proposal changes nothing about the fact that investors get an extra-judicial system that will only deal with their rights, not their obligations."
It is expected that CETA will go before the European Parliament for ratification votes either in late 2016 or early 2017. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has already instructed trade minister Chrystia Freeland "to implement" CETA.
For more on our campaign against CETA, please click here:
[ http://canadians.org/ceta ]
Further reading
Trudeau reportedly pressuring India against reform of ISDS provision (Feb. 17, 2016)
[ http://canadians.org/blog/trudeau-repor ... -provision ]
Tags: Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS)
[ http://canadians.org/tags/isds ]
Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ http://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]
= = = = =
CETA critics force Europe, Canada to revise trade pact: Walkom
[ http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016 ... alkom.html ]
The changes may not satisfy critics of the Canada-European Union deal. But the revised pact is better.
By: Thomas Walkom National Affairs Columnist, Published on Wed Mar 02 2016
The elusive Canada-European Union trade and investment agreement was pronounced a success this week — again.
[ http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016 ... s-say.html ]
It’s still not a done deal. The pact, formally known as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), must pass the European Parliament.
Depending on the outcome of an unrelated court case, it may also have to be ratified by each of the European Union’s 28 member states.
But that didn’t stop International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland from lauding the agreement as “gold-plated” Monday. She said she expects it to come into force next year.
She may be optimistic.
This marks the third time since free-trade negotiations between Canada and the EU began in 2009 that Ottawa has declared victory in its search for a trade pact with Europe.
Former prime minister Stephen Harper congratulated himself in 2013 when an agreement in principle was hammered out and again in 2014 when formal negotiations ended.
Freeland said Monday that the delay since then has simply been a matter of “dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s” of the legal text.
In fact, it was much more. Under intense political pressure at home, the European side forced Canada to renegotiate a controversial part of the agreement that would allow private firms to challenge and ultimately strike down laws that might interfere with profit-making.
Under the renegotiated terms, companies would still have this right. But the adjudicators who heard such cases would not be chosen, as originally envisioned, by the disputants. Instead they would come from a 15-member permanent trade tribunal appointed by governments.
There would also be a right of appeal. As well, the renegotiated text gives more leeway to governments to regulate in the public interest.
Critics don’t think this is enough. Maude Barlow of the Council of Canadians says the reworked pact still gives foreign companies a unique forum in which they can challenge domestic laws.
Osgoode Hall law professor Gus Van Harten says the changes do make the dispute settlement system less open to conflict-of-interest on the part of adjudicators.
He also welcomes clearer references to a government’s right to regulate, which, he says, provides a “modest counterbalance” to the very generous rights awarded foreign investors.
But he says that the changes are still insufficient to deal with a dispute resolution system that, like the one imbedded in the North American Free Trade Agreement, gives rights to companies that ordinary people don’t enjoy.
Still, that any changes have been made at all to this pact speaks to the ability of critics to mobilize opposition.
In Canada, CETA has been very much a non-issue. It is expected to raise the price of pharmaceuticals — which would put more pressure on governments (like Ontario’s) to scale back their drug-benefit programs.
It would hurt the cheese and auto industries and make it harder for provinces and municipalities to give preference to local suppliers.
MORE:
[ http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016 ... alkom.html ]
= = = = = = =
RELATED:
St. John's chapter questions constitutionality of abandoning MPRs for CETA - March 1, 2016
[ http://canadians.org/blog/st-johns-chap ... -mprs-ceta ]
The St. John's chapter is questioning the constitutionality of abandoning Minimum Processing Requirements (MPRs) for the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
McKenna claims CETA is "a green trade deal" - February 29, 2016
[ http://canadians.org/blog/mckenna-claim ... trade-deal ]
Federal environment minister Catherine McKenna is claiming that the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is "a green trade deal".
Canada, EU settle problems on trade deal, say could be in force in 2017 - Feb. 29/16
[ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o ... e28946075/ ]
'Like Putting Lipstick on a Pig': Changes to CETA Make it More Corporate-Friendly Deal - Feb. 29/16
[ http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/0 ... endly-deal ]
'A PR stunt that does nothing but put a Good Housekeeping seal of approval on an already flawed system'
QUOTE: "the new changes would still allow arbitrators to ""moonlight as lawyers with the very same corporations that are launching these cases,"" Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians"
Canada moves a step closer to ratifying 'gold-plated' trade deal with EU - Feb. 29/16
[ http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada- ... -1.3468802 ]
iPolitics - "Liberals modify CETA’s investor dispute clause as deal clears legal scrub.
[ https://ipolitics.ca/2016/02/29/liberal ... gal-scrub/ ]
""Some longstanding opponents of CETA and investor-state dispute settlement, however, see the changes as window dressing.""
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9143
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
Re: CETA critics force Europe, Canada to revise trade pact
by Oscar » Wed Mar 02, 2016 4:28 pm
CETA announcement is smoke and mirrors: Council of Canadians
[ http://canadians.org/media/ceta-announc ... -canadians ]
February 29, 2016 Media Availability
Today’s announcement of modifications to investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions of the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is smoke and mirrors, says the Council of Canadians. Council representatives are available to comment on the announcement.
“The government is presenting this reform to CETA as a ‘fairer, more transparent, system,’ but it still enshrines corporate rights and enables giant European corporations to sue the Canadian government. Tinkering with the dispute settlement process doesn’t change this fundamental flaw,” says Garry Neil, Executive Director of the Council of Canadians.
“This is a dangerous new way to give transnational corporations their own court, which local companies and groups can’t access,” says Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians. “These changes don’t address the concerns that led to the massive public outcry over ISDS in both Canada and Europe.” -30-
ISDS
[ http://canadians.org/tags/isds ]
Media contact
For media calls:
Dylan Penner, Media Officer
Cell: (613) 795-8685
Office: (613) 233-4487, ext. 249
E-mail: dpenner@canadians.org
[ http://canadians.org/media/ceta-announc ... -canadians ]
February 29, 2016 Media Availability
Today’s announcement of modifications to investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions of the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is smoke and mirrors, says the Council of Canadians. Council representatives are available to comment on the announcement.
“The government is presenting this reform to CETA as a ‘fairer, more transparent, system,’ but it still enshrines corporate rights and enables giant European corporations to sue the Canadian government. Tinkering with the dispute settlement process doesn’t change this fundamental flaw,” says Garry Neil, Executive Director of the Council of Canadians.
“This is a dangerous new way to give transnational corporations their own court, which local companies and groups can’t access,” says Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians. “These changes don’t address the concerns that led to the massive public outcry over ISDS in both Canada and Europe.” -30-
ISDS
[ http://canadians.org/tags/isds ]
Media contact
For media calls:
Dylan Penner, Media Officer
Cell: (613) 795-8685
Office: (613) 233-4487, ext. 249
E-mail: dpenner@canadians.org
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9143
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
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