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EAPN
The European Anti-Poverty Network
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Civil society groups call on European governments to reject CETA

EAPN Press releasesFeatured2016-stop-ttip-ceta-eapn

A broad group of civil society and consumer organisations as well as trade unions call on the EU’s trade ministers to reject the signature of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada [1]. The trade ministers are gathering in Bratislava today and tomorrow to discuss the ratification of the CETA agreement.

The agreement is highly controversial with more than three million Europeans signing a petition against CETA and its twin agreement TTIP and more than 2000 municipalities declaring themselves TTIP- and CETA-free [2]. The groups argue that CETA threatens public policies through its investment dispute resolution mechanism, brings no benefits to Europe’s citizens, and endangers the delivery of high quality public services.

Fabian Flues, trade campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe said: “The investment provisions in CETA grant unjustified privileges to foreign investors, threatening policy-making in the public interest. Investment protections has been used in the past to undermine environmental regulations and biased, unaccountable tribunals have cost European tax payers billions already. The investment chapter in CETA would massively expand these investor privileges and is reason alone to reject the agreement.”

Liina Carr, confederal secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation said: “Under CETA, workers are second class citizens compared to investors. Labour and environmental protection is not enforceable under CETA, whereas investors are given a special legal procedure to enforce their rights. CETA will do nothing to promote quality jobs and decent pay, while presenting a threat to the delivery of high-quality public services.”

Monique Goyens, director of the European Consumer Organisation BEUC said: “Disappointingly, CETA fails the consumer crash test. CETA does not provide tangible benefits to consumers and contains provisions that could undermine current and future levels of consumer protection. For instance, CETA will allow foreign investors to sue governments and get compensation when governments pass a law to protect consumers better.”

A coalition of civil society organisations and trade unions is present in Bratislava to highlight the opposition to the CETA ratification during the trade minister meeting [3].

ENDS

NOTES

[1] The organisations are: Friends of the Earth Europe, the European Consumers Organisation (BEUC), the European Trade Union Confederation, the European Public Services Union, the European Anti-Poverty Network, the Health and Environment Alliance and the CEE Bankwatch Network

[2] An overview of the signatures can be found here: https://stop-ttip.org/; on the CETA- and TTIP-free zones, see http://foeeurope.org/2000-CETA-and-TTIP-free-zones-in-Europe

[3] The full programme can be found at: http://stopceta.net/bratislava/

September 22, 2016
Tags: CETATTIP
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Designed by impactshaker
  • Who we are
    • What is EAPN?
    • Our members
    • Our structure
      • EAPN Europe Staff
      • Governing bodies
        • General Assembly (GA)
        • Executive Committee
        • Bureau
      • EU Inclusion Strategies Group
    • The way we are funded
    • Get involved
    • Contact us
  • What we do
    • How we work
    • Policy areas we focus on
      • Poverty & Fundamental Rights
      • Wealth & Inequalities
      • Employment
      • Access to Public Services
      • EU Funds
      • Participation of people experiencing poverty
      • Europe 2020 Strategy
      • The Future of Europe
    • Projects
    • Network Development
    • Campaigns & Alliances
      • Campaigns
      • Alliances & Structured dialogue
  • News & Publications
    • Press Room
      • EAPN Press releases
      • EAPN Clippings
      • National Networks Clippings
    • News
      • EAPN News
      • EAPN National Networks News
      • EU Institutions News
    • Publications
      • EAPN key documents
      • EAPN Position Papers & Reports
      • EAPN Policy toolkits & Briefings
      • EAPN Letters
      • EAPN Books
    • Upcoming Events
    • EAPN Photos & Videos
    • EU jargon explained
  • What is poverty ?
    • Introduction
    • Poverty : what is it?
    • How is poverty measured?
    • Facts & Trends
    • Inequality : what is it?
    • Causes of poverty and inequality
    • Sources of information
    • Voices from the ground
  • Members’ Room
EAPN