TTIP – Global impacts but local council resistance
Date: 25 November 2014
French trade minister Nicole Bricq said in a speech in February 2014 “Let’s dream a little with respect to public procurement. Why not replace “Buy American” which penalises our companies with “Buy transatlantic” which reflects the depth of our mutual commitment?”
Such a sentiment has rung alarm bells across the EU and the US.
Here in the UK, Southampton Council is the latest local council to join the struggle to stop the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
At its most ambitious, the free trade deal between the EU and USA, could see public procurement liberalised by 50 per cent.
By using new rules in TTIP to protect investors, known as Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS), corporations would also be able to sue local councils if their actions are thought to reduce corporate profits in the future.
The EU has been insistent that TTIP includes procurement – at all levels of government in all sectors. This will threaten “Buy Local” schemes which are designed to promote companies which are important in local economies. Such a threat could add millions of food miles to the food served in hospitals and public sector workplaces. The leaked text of 24 July 2014 indicates that schools’ food buying practices may be exempted from the TTIP negotiations. This is welcome but the EU insists on access to public hospitals with more than 500 beds and all public universities.
Local councils make good use of public procurement policies to boost local economies by sourcing food from local suppliers or getting jobs for local people by using local employers. Under TTIP, these vital local policies could be reclassified as barriers to trade and outlawed because they offer an unfair advantage to local firms with which corporations from the across the EU and USA cannot compete. With multinational companies enjoying huge economies of scale, the idea of small local companies having a competitive edge over them is fanciful, this is a direct threat to the welfare of many small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).
Brighton and Hove Council passed a motion expressing concern about TTIP in July, followed by Oxford in September and Southhampton in November. A number of other local councils are set to debate TTIP in the coming weeks.
Citizens from across Europe are campaigning to stop TTIP because of the potential detrimental impact on public services; local and national decision-making; and labour, food safety and environmental standards. In just over a month almost one million people have signed a petition against the deal.
World Development Movement groups around the UK are campaigning with other local organisations to support more local councils in their opposition to TTIP.
Further reading: US based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy: Local Economies on The Table
