URGENT message via Friends of the Earth Europe: Please find below a draft letter to heads of state or trade ministers of EU Member States. It can be sent ahead of the Sept .12 meeting of the EU Trade Policy Committee where Member States have the *final* opportunity to comment on the CETA text. We call on them to take ISDS out, or otherwise not to sign the CETA*. Of course, you can adapt the letter to your positions and work. It is important to send them early next week! * EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TEMPLATE To: Prime minister / President / Minister in charge of trade Re: Request to reject inclusion of ISDS in Canada trade agreement [Your city], September --, 2014 Dear [name of head of state or trade minister] , On September 25, the European Commission and the Canadian government are planning to initial the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) at an event in Ottawa, Canada. The text for this trade deal includes a proposal for an Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) clause. ISDS is an increasingly controversial issue. Many voices, including representatives of EU Member States, have expressed concern about ISDS and argued that there is no need to include this mechanism in EU trade agreements with the US or Canada. We believe that ISDS gives excessive rights to foreign investors vis-à-vis the rest of society and discriminates against domestic investors. ISDS undermines the ‘right of governments to regulate’ and it circumvents existing court systems. It relies on broad interpretations by for-profit arbitrators with significant conflict of interest issues, with no possibility to rely on jurisprudence or an appeal mechanism. The reforms of the ISDS mechanism, proposed by the Commission, do not alleviate concerns about the fundamental flaws of the system, nor about its abuse by companies. In the context of the EU-Canada and the EU-US deals, ISDS is particularly not needed. In January this year, the European Commission announced a public consultation on ISDS. Between March and July, some 150,000 citizens contributed to the consultation. An overwhelming majority expressed very clearly that they don’t want ISDS to be part of the trade agreement being negotiated with the US . Even though the Commission has not yet finished analysing the contributions to the consultation, it decided to move ahead with this highly controversial mechanism and included it in the CETA agreement that is expected to be signed at the end of this month. We believe it would give an extremely worrying signal to European citizens if the opinion of those that took part in the consultation is ignored. It will only fuel the perception of many that the Commission is not listening to citizens. On September 12, the EU Trade Policy Committee will meet in Brussels to discuss and agree on the CETA text. This will be the last opportunity for Member States to give their opinion on the draft final text of the agreement. Considering the strong and legitimate concerns about ISDS and considering that the Commission is still analysing the results of its public consultation, we are asking you at this meeting to insist that the Commission removes the ISDS mechanism from the CETA agreement, and if the Commission is not willing to do so, that your country does not give its support to CETA. If you have any further questions, please contact: xxxx Yours sincerely, [Name and function] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- EMAIL ADDRESSES Ireland Taoiseach Enda Kenny: [email protected] Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore: [email protected] UK David Cameron: use https://email.number10.gov.uk/ Lord Livingston: [email protected] Spain José Manuel García-Margallo: [email protected] Finland Erkki Tuomioja: [email protected] Malta George Vella: [email protected] Cyprus Ioannis Kasoulides: [email protected] Belgium Didier Reynders: [email protected] Luxembourg Jean Asselborn: [email protected] Estonia Urmas Paet: [email protected] Lithuania Linas Linkevicius: [email protected] Slovenia Karl Erjavec: [email protected] Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier: [email protected] Poland Radoslaw Sikorski: [email protected] Bulgaria Kristian Ivanov Vigenin: [email protected] Romania Titus Corlatean : [email protected] Sweden Carl Bildt: [email protected] Netherlands Frans Timmermans: rijksoverheid.nl/ministeries/bz Slovakia Miroslav Lajcák: [email protected] Greece Evangelos Venizelos: [email protected] Hungary Tibor Navracsics: [email protected] Austria Sebastian Kurz: bmeia.gv.at Denmark Martin Lidegaard: [email protected] Croatia Vesna Pusic: [email protected] France Laurent Fabius: [email protected] Latvia Edgars Rinkevics: [email protected] Portugal Rui Machete: [email protected] Italy Federica Mogherini: [email protected] cc EU Commissioner for Trade, Karel de Gucht: [email protected]
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 12:38:09 +0000
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