In unusual circumstances, the planned vote in the European Parliament on TTIP tomorrow (The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) – an EU-US trade deal currently being negotiated, has been cancelled.
The official line from the
Parliament is that because more than 200 amendments were tabled the vote should
be postponed to enable the Trade Committee to consider the amendments before
tabling them for a future plenary session.
The controversial deal
seeks to remove standards and protections that are currently enshrined in laws
across the EU and US. Examples of these regulations include labour rights that
protect people at work, environmental regulations and food safety laws.
Included in the agreement
is a clause called the Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) which many MEPs
have warned would allow corporations to sue Governments in secret courts if a
Government passed laws which limited a corporation’s profits or activity.
Keith Taylor, Green MEP for
South East England, said:
The decision to cancel the vote on TTIP stinks of political parties in the European Parliament running scared of the huge public opposition to TTIP.
TTIP represents a monumental power grab by corporations and it must be stopped in its tracks.
Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP
for South West England said:
This attempt to remove the right of all MEPs to vote on this very important report on TTIP is nothing short of a scandal. Thousands of constituents have emailed me today and I will not be cheated of my right to represent their will to oppose ISDS and the undermining of European protection of environments and animal welfare.
