CETA - Trading away democracy | bilaterals.org
CETA - Trading away democracy (2016 version)
The Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is
much less known than its US-EU counterpart, TTIP, but this report
exposes how it still poses a serious threat to governments efforts to
protect citizens and the environment.
Please note: This is an updated and newly released version of a report, Trading Away Democracy, published in November 2014.
Executive Summary
On September 26, 2014, Canada and the European Union (EU) announced
the conclusion of a far-reaching economic integration agreement, the
Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). The agreement
included an investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism, later
tweaked and re-branded as ICS (Investment Court System) in February
2016, which could unleash a corporate litigation boom against Canada,
the EU and individual EU member states, and could dangerously thwart
government efforts to protect citizens and the environment.
ICS, an ISDS mechanism, gives foreign corporations the ability to
directly sue countries at international tribunals for compensation over
health, environmental, financial and other domestic safeguards that they
believe undermine their rights. These investor-state lawsuits are
decided by private commercial arbitrators who are paid for each case
they hear, with a clear tendency to interpret the law in favour of
investors. While the Commission has described the tribunals as ‘public’,
Germany’s largest association of judges and public prosecutors says
neither the proposed procedure for the appointment of members of the ICS
nor their position meet the international requirements for the
independence of courts and that the ICS emerges not as an international
court, but rather as a permanent court of arbitration.
ICS can prevent governments from acting in the public interest both
directly when a corporation sues a state, and indirectly by discouraging
legislation for fear of triggering a suit. Globally, investors have
challenged laws that protect public health such as anti-smoking laws,
bans on toxics and mining, requirements for environmental impact
assessments, and regulations relating to hazardous waste, tax measures
and fiscal policies.
