Trade

How is big business using the EU's trade and investment agreements to sideline people, planet and democracy?

podcast 2

Green Deal or EU-US Trade Deal?

EU Watchdog Radio is a new podcast hosted jointly by Brussels-based lobby watchdog Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) and Counter Balance. In this second episode Nina Holland and Kenneth Haar, both researchers from CEO, analyze the ongoing negotiations on a EU-US trade deal and what impact this ‘TTIP-light’ could have on the so called European Green Deal.

123 organisations denounce trade talks

Health, environment and climate are not negotiable

More than 100 civil society organisations demand a stop to trade talks with the US that will further endanger EU rules on health and the environment and aggravate the climate crisis. A change of course is needed.

toxic residues

Pesticides & GMOs

Toxic residues through the back door

A new investigation reveals how pesticide corporations and trade partners have put immense pressure on the EU to allow residues of certain hazardous pesticides - banned in Europe - to be present in food and feed imports.

Post-Brexit EU-UK trade deal based on CETA would be bad news

The EU-UK trade talks begin with the UK objective to use the corporate-friendly EU-Canada agreement CETA as a template. This is not a good start for democracy nor the public interest.

Video cover dirty coal versus the Netherlands

Investor privileges (ISDS)

How big coal could sue the Netherlands to sabotage climate action

German coal giant Uniper is threatening to sue the Netherlands under the Energy Charter Treaty - over a law to phase out coal. But opposition to the obscure treaty is growing.

Open letter on EU-US trade talks

EU-US trade talks: opacity sparks concerns

European civil society organizations denounce lack of transparency and the inclusion of “regulatory cooperation” in the ongoing EU-US trade talks in a letter to the Commission.

Umbrella

Trading away protection

The ongoing trade talks between the EU and the US give reason to many of the same concerns as the negotiations on TTIP. The US is looking to weaken EU standards on eg. chemicals, pesticides, GMOs and food. The European priorities include ideas that could undermine US protection levels on medical devices, toys and equipment used at workplaces. 'Conformity assessments' is a much more risky area than it sounds, according to our report 'Trading away protection'.

lab

US pressure on EU to de-regulate new GM

One year after a landmark ECJ judgment that the EU’s GMO rules should apply to new genetic engineering techniques, industry groups and the US Government are keeping up pressure on the European Union to deregulate, with implications for food and bio-safety, as well as consumer choice.

ISDS video impressions

Investor privileges (ISDS)

How ISDS corporate privileges risk to undermine community struggles

In Croatia, Italy and Romania communities have stopped dirty oil drilling, toxic mines and other disastrous corporate projects. Now, big business might get its way in ISDS corporate courts. But the local communities continue to stand strong.

Red Carpet Courts Teaser

Investor privileges (ISDS)

Red carpet courts: 10 stories of how the rich and powerful hijacked justice

The ISDS parallel justice system for big business is again and again used as a corporate weapon against the public interest. 10 recent cases from around the world show how the red carpet courts continue to thrive and reinforce injustice across the world.

The City of London's agenda for an EU-UK trade deal

The finance lobby's risky plans for Brexit

Any future EU-UK trade agreement post-Brexit will have to deal with the financial sector. And the financial lobby has been pushing its own model for long. Their risky plans on 'regulatory cooperation' are uncovered in this report from Corporate Europe Observatory, LobbyControl, Observatoire des Multinationales and SpinWatch.

regulatory cooperation report

International regulatory cooperation and the public good

Big business has a new weapon to erode 'costly' protections for the environment, public health, workers and consumers: “good regulatory practices” in international trade agreements.

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