Florence 19/11/2014
 

Introducing the final half-day session of GUE/NGL study days in Florence on the transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP), German MEP Helmut Scholz  said  “TTIP is aiming to create a transatlantic common market by jeopardising the role of the state in guaranteeing the rights of citizens and taking away the ability for a government to stimulate local development through intelligent public procurement. We are against the translation of the word 'needs' into the word 'demand' and 'demand' into 'market.'”

For Italian MEP Eleonora Forenza, TTIP represents the affirmation of the primacy of investors over popular sovereignty, in other words the rights of citizens and workers. She said: “Institutional barriers are not enough. MEPs should be the managers of a job that cannot be confined to the halls of Parliament. We need to field a strong social opposition and in the coming months it will be very important to draw up a counter-information strategy. We will be drawing up a report on the impact of trade treaties on human rights. This will be an opportunity to continue the political process of listening to citizens.”

“Trade liberalisation does not work but saying “no” is not an option,” said Dutch MEP Anne-Marie Mineur. ” We should try to improve the domestic markets before international ones and we must fight the impunity of major multinational companies. It's very important to think how the left wants to develop a social economy and an alternative trade policy which will also safeguard  the environment.”

GUE/NGL Press Contacts in Florence:
Gay Kavanagh +32 473 84 23 20
Gianfranco Battistini + 32 475 64 66 28