Reacting to Trade Commissioner De Gucht's suspension of controversial EU-US trade talks to study the possible inclusion of an investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provision within the deal, GUE/NGL MEP Helmut Scholz has reiterated the group's opposition to the investment provisions of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), and the agreement as a whole.

“I welcome the Commission's decision to put the brakes on the TTIP,” he said. “This would never have happened without effective campaigning from civil society groups. We need answers to questions on companies' right of action against governments. In recent years this process has seen specialised law firms make huge profits at the expense of judicial systems.”

Scholz continued: “On the Left we fear that if these investment provisions were in place governments may be intimidated by high claims for damages from companies and as a result would be reluctant to implement the necessary legislation for protecting both the environment and workers. We just need to turn to Canada to see how this has happened in practice with the fracking legislation there.”

“We cannot let corporations bypass judicial proceedings,” he concluded.

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