Transatlantic Trade Agreement Threatens Environment and Health in U.S. and Europe

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http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/12/26-3


EU chief negotiator Ignacio Garcia Bercero (L) and US chief negotiator Dan Mullaney (R ) give a joint press conference after the second round of negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) on November 15,2013 at the EU Headquarters in Brussels. AFP PHOTO /GEORGES GOBET

Negotiations between the United States and European Union for a free trade agreement, which resumed this week in Washington, represent one of the biggest threats we have seen in our lifetimes to an environmentally sustainable and socially just world.

The deal, known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, is billed as the biggest bilateral free trade agreement in history. It is being touted as a means to boost trade and create jobs, but in reality the United States already has free trade with Europe, and vice versa. Tariffs are already low and the exchange of goods and services is robust.

Friends of the Earth U.S. and Friends of the Earth Europe are deeply concerned that the negotiating objectives for an agreement have little to do with free trade and everything to do with corporate power. TTIP risks being a partnership of those who seek to prevent and roll back democratically agreed safeguards in areas such as food and chemical safety, agriculture and energy.

What we fear the negotiations really aim for is a massive weakening of standards and regulations for the protection of people and our environment. Such rules are branded "trade irritants," making them seem like an annoying itch for the corporations that have to adhere to them. These companies would therefore like to see them removed, irrespective of the fact that the very reason for these rules' creation is to protect citizens, consumers and nature.