GUE/NGL MEPs have been taking part in the #End WTO Action Week in Bali this week, a coming together of alternative voices from political forces, social movements and NGOs to counter neoliberalism and destructive global trade policies.

Today the GUE/NGL delegation, with the support of several NGOs*, organised a roundtable that focused on the need to intensify efforts on tackling the impunity of TNCs worldwide, those same TNCs whose power has been boosted by the WTO and its global agreements.

There was an exchange of experiences between legislators from Europe and several Asian countries, and representatives of social movements such as Via Campesina, a group with strong roots in Indonesia. The discussion focused on corporations' impact on the rights of people and the damaging consequences TNCs' actions can have on food security, the environment and social rights, and how impunity benefits them.

GUE/NGL MEP Alda Sousa summed up the roundtable event by emphasising the need for continued coordinated action:
“It is important that we continue and intensify the joint work being carried out to tackle the impunity of corporations and work together towards an International Peoples Treaty to defend peoples’ rights over corporations.”

*NGOs:
Global Campaign to Dismantle Corporate Power and Stop Impunity
Serikat Petani Indonesia (SPI)
Gerak Lawan
Social Movements for an Alternative Asia (SMAA)

GUE/NGL Press Contacts:
Emily Macintosh +32 470 85 05 08
David Lundy +32 470 85 05 09
Gay Kavanagh +32 473 84 23 20
European United Left / Nordic Green Left
European Parliamentary Group