Around half of the negotiating texts between the EU and the US have been revealed in a data dump by Greenpeace Netherlands. It sheds light on the demands being made by America which includes the ability to change EU law by giving US corporations more lobbying power in Brussels.
Greenpeace claims this represents a “huge transfer of power from people to big business”.
In none of the 248 pages of classified documents is there a reference to the World Trade Organisation’s general exceptions rule. This 70-year-old policy lets nations regulate trade to protect human or animal health, but its omission suggests negotiators have put profits before “human, animal and plant life”, said Greenpeace.
Pursuit of profit
Hitherto, TTIP negotiations between the US and the EU have been highly secretive. But this leak provides unprecedented insight into one of the ambitious trade deals between two of the world’s most powerful economies.
What is TTIP?
The TTIP agreement is a proposed trade deal between the US and the EU which promises to create jobs and bolster economic growth through a bilateral trade deal. It’s a deal that could boost the EU’s economy by €120bn and the US economy by €90bn, according to the European Commission. Copa-Cogeca has in the past said that TTIP presents some opportunities for processed meats, but opportunities will be “challenging” for livestock sectors like beef, pork and poultry.
“These documents make clear the scale and scope of the trade citizens of the United States and the European Union are being asked to make in pursuit of corporate profits,” said Sylvia Borren, executive director of Greenpeace Netherlands. “It is time for the negotiations to stop, and the debate to begin.
“Environmental protection should not be seen as a barrier to trade, but as a safeguard for our health, and the health of future generations,” she added.
“We now have documentary proof that the US-EU trade deal promises climate disaster by ramping up US oil and gas production and exports to Europe,” said Bill Waren, senior trade analyst at Friends of the Earth US. “Sensible regulatory safeguards, such as those related to food safety and toxic chemicals, among many others, would also be stymied.”
Storm in a teacup
However, EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström called the Greenpeace document dump “a storm in a teacup”. This position was echoed by EU farming body Copa-Cogeca who told GlobalMeatNews “the leak hasn’t really lived up to the hype”.
“The talks are still being negotiated, and despite Greenpeace’s arguments to the contrary, the leaked texts don’t mean much,” said Copa-Cogeca. “Why? Because they essentially show proposals and counterproposals from both partners — nothing solid."
The documents have been put online by Greenpeace and comprise of about half of the draft text as of April 2016, prior to the thirteenth round of negotiations which kicked off last week.