TTIP leaks – people’s worst fears confirmed

Date: 2 May 2016

Today Greenpeace Netherlands have released 248 leaked pages of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiating texts. According to Greenpeace, “the documents unveil for the first time the US position and deliberate attempts to change the EU democratic legislative process.”

Reacting to the news, Guy Taylor, the trade campaigner at Global Justice Now said:

“These leaks confirm what millions of people across Europe have suspected all along – that this toxic trade deal is essentially an enormous corporate power grab. TTIP is proposing to open the door even wider for corporations to influence decision making processes, and this would have a disastrous impact on vital laws protecting public health, the environment and labour rights.

“It’s disgraceful that despite the fact TTIP would have such a profound impact on the lives of people across Europe, the only way that people get to know about these disturbing details is through leaks like these. TTIP is being cooked up behind closed doors because when ordinary people find out about the threat it poses to democracy and consumer protections, they are of course opposed to it.

“It’s no secret that the negotiations have been on increasingly shaky ground. Millions of people across Europe have signed petitions against TTIP, and hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets to call for an end to the negotiations. These leaks should be seen as another nail in the coffin of a toxic trade deal that corporate power is unsuccessfully trying to impose on ordinary people and our democracies.”