TTIP

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a proposed mega trade deal that was negotiated between the European Union and the United States.

The original mandate to the European Commission stated: “the Agreement will include an appropriate dispute settlement mechanism”.

The investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism in TTIP has drawn fierce criticism from civil society groups from both sides of the Atlantic. They claimed in December 2013, in a letter to the European Commission and the Office of the United States Trade Representative that ISDS was “a one-way street by which corporations can challenge government policies, but neither governments nor individuals are granted any comparable rights to hold corporations accountable”.

In 2014, the European Commission launched a public consultation about the inclusion of ISDS in TTIP. The result was very clear: 97% of the 150,000 participants said no to ISDS.

The European Commission put forward in 2015 a proposal for an alternative mechanism, named investment court system, a move it said would make ISDS more transparent and allow states to appeal against multinationals’ challenges. But groups portrayed the suggested changes as putting “lipstick on a pig”, as they are merely cosmetic changes, and would still allow corporations to sue governments in parallel court settings.

Following strong public outcry and the election of Trump in the US, talks on a comprehensive agreement were put on hold in 2017.

Photo: Garry Knight / CC0 1.0

(March 2020)

Gulf Daily News | 23-Nov-2014
Europe’s proposed free trade agreement with the US would collapse if European leaders bowed to pressure to remove investment protection from any deal, the chairman of EU trade ministers said.
FES | 21-Nov-2014
This study discusses the impact of investment protection on social and labour regulation and the autonomy of the social partners in regulating these matters through collective agreements.
EurActiv | 17-Nov-2014
Le secrétaire d’État au commerce, Matthias Fekl a rappelé que la France n’avait pas été favorable à l’inclusion des tribunaux d’arbitrage dans le cadre du partenariat transatlantique.
EurActiv | 17-Nov-2014
Matthias Fekl, France’s Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, has made it clear that France will not support the inclusion of the Investor State Dispute Settlement mechanism (ISDS) in a potential TTIP agreement.
ViEUws | 6-Nov-2014
Jennifer Baker is joined by Richard More O’Ferrall, spokesperson for the Greens Group, to discuss the future of trade negotiations between the European Union and United States under the new Juncker Commission.
BEUC | 28-Oct-2014
This case illustrates the risk that a Member State can be successfully sued by a company within ISDS for merely bringing its legislation or policies in line with EU legislation.
EU Trade Insights | 28-Oct-2014
As the debate in Europe over investors’ rights to sue States is growing, Singapore has been asking the European Commission to agree to a decoupling of the bilateral trade agreement as the country is concerned the investment protection part of the deal could hold up the entire pact.
Mediapart | 27-Oct-2014
Le ministre de l’économie allemand Sigmar Gabriel a rendu public le mercredi 15 octobre le montant réclamé par Vattenfall, à savoir 4,7 milliards d’€. Rien à voir avec les quelques millions d’€ mentionnés un mois avant par son secrétaire d’Etat.
European Voice | 23-Oct-2014
As Juncker gives reassurances to the European Parliament over free trade with the US, 14 member states are urging him to stick to the script.
Challenges.fr | 23-Oct-2014
Le futur chef de la Commission européenne, Jean-Claude Juncker, a ouvert la porte à une exclusion des tribunaux d’arbitrage de l’accord de libre-échange en cours de négociations avec les Etats-Unis, dans son discours d’investiture mercredi 22 octobre devant le Parlement européen.