MEPs accused of ‘betraying the European people’ in TTIP vote
The voice of the European people was ignored today when members of the European Parliament’s trade committee agreed a resolution backing the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) for the full parliament to vote on next month.
The vote flies in the face of European public opinion, with almost two million people signing a European Citizens’ Initiative opposing the secretive EU-US trade deal.
The full European Parliament will now vote on the compromise text at its next plenary in Strasbourg during the week of 8 June.
War on Want Executive Director John Hilary said: “Millions of people across Europe have said no to TTIP, in the strongest trade campaign we have ever seen. Yet MEPs have turned their backs on their own constituents, choosing instead to side with the business lobbyists of Brussels. This is an outright betrayal of the European people, and we shall not forget it.”
MEPs also backed the European Commission's controversial proposal for an ‘investor-state dispute settlement’ (ISDS) system, which grants privileged powers to foreign corporations.
