Civil society statement against Investor Protection in TTIP, CETA, and other trade deals
Over 280 civil society organisations from across Europe, US and Canada in calling on the EU and the US government to eliminate the Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) and its so-called replacement, the Investment Court System (ICS), from TTIP, CETA and all other trade agreements.
The signed statement condemning the EU’s ‘rebranding’ of the old ISDS system comes ahead the 12th round of TTIP negotiations, starting today in Brussels.
The statement highlights how:
- ISDS and ICS give exclusive rights to foreign investors, thereby discriminating against domestic investors and communities, with no benefits to the wider society.
- ISDS and ICS can force governments to use billions in taxpayers’ funds to compensate corporations for public health, environmental, labour and other public interest policies, government actions and even court rulings
- ISDS and ICS are not subject to democratic principles and scrutiny. Parliaments will not be able to change the rules later on.
- ISDS and ICS undermine the jurisdiction of European and Member State courts as foreign investors can by-pass them.
- ISDS and ICS ignore the fact that European, US and Canadian legal systems are perfectly capable of handling disputes with foreign investors, based on the law that applies to everyone else in society.
