Jill Evans calls for stronger campaign against TTIP

TTIP is a bilateral free trade agreement currently being negotiated in secret between the European Union and the United States. The final agreement will need the agreement of the European Parliament in a “yes” or “no” vote.

This week in Strasbourg the European Parliament voted on its recommendations for the ongoing TTIP negotiations, a key step in the process which will set the tone for the EU’s negotiators. In the light of the vote, Plaid MEP Jill Evans has called for strengthening the campaign against TTIP.

The parliament report on the negotiations proposes replacing the Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) courts with a new system. ISDS would allow foreign investors to sue democratically elected governments in secret courts of arbitration if they claimed their current or future profits were in jeopardy because of government decisions. The compromise agreed by parliament does not explicitly rule out ISDS but instead proposes a similar mechanism under a different name, which was unacceptable to Plaid Cymru.

Jill Evans MEP said:

“Today’s compromise is too weak and still leaves the door open to democratically elected governments being sued by big corporations. There is no reason why foreign investors should be granted these rights, which are not given to anyone else.

“I am concerned about threats to our public services, jobs, environmental and food standards, small businesses and language and cultural issues.

“I will continue to campaign against TTIP and I call on my constituents in Wales to keep up the lobby of politicians which has already had a major impact.

“I want a trade deal which will benefit, not threaten, our democracy, our public services and our standards. I know that is what people in Wales want too so we will have to keep up the pressure to stop TTIP.”