Potpišite peticiju protiv TTIP-a i CETA-e | STav
What great news to ring out the old and start the New Year: Croatia is
getting closer and closer to reaching their country target!!
HipHipHurrah ... almost there!
Sign the petition against TTIP and CETA-e
Peticija protiv Transatlantsko
sporazuma o trgovini i investicijama (Transatlantic Trade and Investment
Partnership, TTIP) pokrenuta je i u Hrvatskoj.
Petition against transatlantic agreement on trade and investment
(Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP) was launched in
Croatia.
TTIP for months causing preventive public criticism and
MPs. On the one hand, the European Commission argues that the European
Agreement economies reached 120 billion euros, equivalent to 0.5 percent
of GDP in the EU, on the other hand, public organizations and many warn
it's a negotiation that favor companies and directly affects the lives
of all people.
TTIP is compared to the infamous Anti-Counterfeiting
Trade Agreement (ACTA), which is 4 July 2012, the European Parliament
rejected due to numerous protests. According to most organizations that
require full transparency of the negotiations, TTIP is yet another
attempt to push controversial elements of ACT in a new package.
Petition Stop TTIP Croatia signed the 1,151,958 citizens EU swarm ab of
signatures in Croatia is now 1276, but it was "only 15 percent of the
total number of signatures required to run this petition in Croatia,"
warned the organizers - a stop TTIP coalition, consists of more than 300
associations, unions and other organizations from all over Europe.
Their main objectives are to prevent and TTIP CETA because they contain
the most critical points, for example. Provision of settlement of
disputes between investors and states (settlement of disputes between
investors and states) and the regulations on the cooperation of
regulatory authorities, which are a threat to democracy and the rule of
law. "We want to prevent the decline of standards in the field of
employment and data protection as well as social and environmental
standards for consumers. We want to prevent public provision (eg. Water)
and cultural property addressed by non-transparent negotiations. ",
they say. The initiative is implemented through the European Citizens'
Initiative mechanism (ICE) and supports alternative trade and investment
policy of the European Union.
The petition can be signed here.
< br> BRID Association, GONG and Green Action has also provided
support to the petition, and their statement in full:
We invite
people to sign a petition against the conclusion of trade agreements
EU-US and EU-Canada which is already signed by over one million people.
The petition was launched by a stop TTIP coalition, made up of more than
300 associations, unions and other organizations from all over Europe.
Declarative objective of these agreements is to increase trade by
reducing or removing tariffs, which supposedly lead to a new economic
momentum, job creation, and others. But critics warn that the agreement
is the true goal of eliminating the remaining barriers to trade by
harmonizing legislation, most likely reaching deregulation and the
lowering of standards in five key areas: food and agriculture,
environmental protection, labor law, financial regulation and data
protection.
One of the most dangerous parts of these trade
agreements is the so-called. "Settlement of disputes between investors
and states" (Eng investor-state dispute settlement. - ISDS). ISDS is a
common part of international investment agreements, which allows foreign
investors, bypassing national legal systems, through international
tribunal to financial compensation for the government of a state, if
assessed their benefits and the potential for investments could be
threatened by changes in legislation and / or policies in the Member
State. These private courts consist of three business lawyer that
decisions are made behind closed doors.
If the state loses ISDS
dispute or fails to reach an agreement, the government may be forced to
pay costs of the proceedings of public money. In other words, the
mechanism can effectively ISDS foreign investors to investment risks are
transferred to the whole society, ie. Taxpayers. Even if the complaint
is dismissed or judgment is "in favor of the state", the court may
divide court costs between the two parties.
New research network
Friends of the Earth Europe (Foca ) reveals that European taxpayers,
because of ISDS in existing international trade agreements, private
investors so far paid at least € 3.5 billion. This mechanism will
certainly be more often used if the EU's trade agreements with Canada
(CETA) and the US (TTIP), currently being negotiated, is to be signed in
its present form.
< br> The study included 127 Foca ISDS
cases associated with bilateral investment agreements. Given the
mysterious nature of the arbitration process, data on the amounts of the
company requested or assigned to them, are not available in many cases,
and presented figures probably represent only the tip of the iceberg.
< br> The main findings of the research are:
• According to available data, from 1994 against 20 EU Member States launched 127 procedures of ISDS
• Details. the amounts of compensation that are sought foreign
investors were publicly available for only 62 of 127 cases (48%), with a
total of almost 30 billion euros.
• Data on the total amount
allocated to foreign investors (with interest, arbitration costs and
other costs), including only data publicly available on the funds paid
in the case of a regulation, were available in 14 of 127 cases (11 %)
and amounted to 3, 5000000000.
• 76% of known cases (97 of 127)
were initiated against the new Member States that joined the EU between
2004 and 2007. • 59% of
cases (75 of 127) are related to environmental legislation.
• Data on completed cases the results are made public show that
investors achieve complete or partial victory in 44% of cases • Although
the achievement of such a regulation can have a positive
connotation because the two sides reach an agreement that ends the
dispute without winners and losers, it can still be very expensive for
taxpayers (up to 2 billion euros, how much is paid Poland Dutch
insurance company Eureko 2005. years).
Peer-reviewed database of 127 cases of ISDS process you can find here.
We invite all citizens to sign a petition and thus help to prevent the adoption of these harmful trade agreements.
