Tom Kucharz "The FTA attacks our rights"
Aficando activist in Spain, was this week in the summer university can in Gran Canaria. He presented his experience and knowledge of the new free trade agreement that is to pass between the EU and the US and considers a "brutal attack".
- Why should we scare before the new free trade agreement (TTIP)?
- Basically because it is an attack on our social, labor rights or environmental record. If we already found serious systematic violation of the rights of European population policies and Debtocracy austericidio have been imposed in the past three decades since the Treaty of Maastricht, the danger of this is huge. On the one hand, Europe could lose more than 600,000 jobs. But more serious is the loss of wages; what we are experiencing is a process of de-globalization. It will be more productive relocate certain companies to the southern United States, where no collective agreement, where wages are very low. The aim is not to touch tariffs, which are already very low, but to change the regulatory system still protecting some of our rights. Over 80% of the benefits of this treaty in a decade would eliminate 25% of the legislation. Rules that protect us from chemicals, safety at work or in our food security.
- Affirms that transform our productive models worse ...
- It Is this deregulation would bring the service sector. And when we speak of the service sector we are not talking only of the public. People working, for example, in the field of architecture or design, they become service providers. It wants to remove the relationship between employer and employee. They want, with the excuse of making autonomous, out of the way many labor standards, but also would remove a lot of revenue to the State. For large companies outsource their services. It is privatizing many sectors that are in public hands or aspects of tenders. There's a pact between the heads of state and multinationals, large companies have peaked in national or European markets and seek new markets in all the major works contracts or provide services, for example, to give food in large US jails. This is a very big to govern the municipalities where candidates now popular unit because it is going to try to limit their social policies from Brussels threat.
- What is perceived is understood to be a neoliberal ploy to tie up your system?
- Obviously it's a twist of capitalist globalization. On several issues: One has to do with economic growth from 2015 will take place outside the European Union, why you want to join with the United States to compete for those markets with emerging countries.
- The political shifts in countries like Greece and Spain influence the negotiations between Europe and the United States?
- The brutal consequences of capitalist globalization has resulted in the integration of this anti-democratic and anti-social model which is the European Union are feeling increasingly overwhelming rejection in the population. That we have seen in the massive vote of rejection have the National Front or Golden Dawn, far-right parties, but also has a progressive key as if Syriza. Such events will occur more or Sinn Fein we in Ireland, then what you need is more strength jackets that prevent leftist governments that promote political changes that go against the neoliberal consensus.
- And that would leave no room for management to local or state corporations?
- Many of these decisions would be taken by many officials in Brussels influenced by media pressure from big industries, then they have a big impact on national or regional policies. You have to visualize that municipalities have to demonstrate against the TTIP and other treaties that violate freedom by regular municipal and national governments, regional. Remove democratic sovereignty parliaments.
- How?
- There are a number of elements that were already part of other treaties in the past, and now numbering in megatratado. The TTIP brings together two important economic areas in the world yet. One has to do with regulatory cooperation, an attempt to analyze how are the laws in both places and seek convergence between the two. A council of regulatory cooperation in the industries to stop before it is launched any law are not interested.
- Give priority to the multinationals on governments?
- They do not just want to lose our rights concessions similar to US levels, but to avoid in the future that there is legislation which may jeopardize trade. They want to have clauses promotion and investment protection. That allow companies to sue before a private tribunal states. It is a legal system that breaks the rule of law gives more rights to a private foreign investor to a small or medium business. The countries of the European Union rule for economic power and TTIP would be one more tool to ensure the private benefits for large companies.
- However, Europe works in other treaties outside the TTIP.
- Since 2013 trade with the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico, which is called TISA. It is equally dangerous than TTIP, but less known. And there exists a clause that freezes laws of the future or another called ratchet clause that prevents liberalization being undertaken to restore public hands progressive sectors can run via policies.
PROFILE. Tom Kucharz is a journalist and social researcher. Academically, the curriculum emphasizes studying Master of Arts in Philosophy, Sociology and Political Science at the Technical University of Dresden, Germany. Residing in Madrid, Kucharz is a member of the confederal secretariat and coordinator of agroecology and food sovereignty of Ecologists in Action. Their participation in various social initiatives is accompanied by an extensive published work on subjects such as free trade agreements.
