Einblick in den Verlauf der sehr umstrittenen TTIP-Verhandlungen haben uns Bundesregierung und EU bisher verweigert. Dieses Defizit hat nun Greenpeace Niederlande gefüllt. Seit heute Vormittag stehen über 200 aktuelle Seiten aus den Verhandlungen über TTIP im Internet:
http://www.ttip-leaks.org

Wir werden uns in den nächsten Wochen mit den Auswirkungen auf den ländlichen Raum näher befassen.

Vorab eine erste Einschätzung von Greenpeace über den wesentlichen Inhalt:

“About TTIP Leaks
1…

2. What are the main findings in the documents?
From an environmental and consumer protection point of view four aspects are of serious concern:

Long standing environmental protections appear to be dropped None of the chapters we have seen reference the General Exceptions rule. This nearly 70-year-old rule enshrined in the GATT agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO), allows nations to regulate trade “to protect human, animal and plant life or health” or for “the conservation of exhaustible natural resources” [1]. The omission of this regulation suggests both sides are creating a regime that places profit ahead of human, animal and plant life and health.

[1] Most of the WTO’s agreements were the outcome of the 1986-94 Uruguay Round of trade negotiations. Some, including GATT 1994, were revisions of texts that previously existed.

Climate protection will be harder under TTIP The Paris Climate Agreement makes one point clear: We must keep temperature increase under 1.5 degrees to avoid a climate crisis with effects on billions of people worldwide. Trade should not be excluded from climate action. But nothing indicating climate protection can be found in the obtained texts. Even worse, the scope for mitigation measures is limited by provisions of the chapters on Regulatory Cooperation or Market Access for Industrial Goods. [2] As an example these proposals would rule out regulating the import of CO2 intensive fuels such as oil from Tar Sands.

[2] Nothing in the relevant Articles 10 (Import and Export Restrictions) and 12 (Import and Export Licensing) of the Chapter on National Treatment and Market Access for Goods shows that necessary trade related measures to protect the climate would be allowed as a trade restriction under GATT Article XX (see footnote 1).

The end of the precautionary principle The precautionary principle, enshrined in the EU Treaty [3], is not mentioned in the chapter on Regulatory Cooperation, nor in any other of the obtained 12 chapters. On the other hand the US demand for a ‘risk based’ approach that aims to manage hazardous substances rather than avoid them, finds its way into various chapters. This approach undermines the ability of regulators to take preventive measures, for example regarding controversial substances like hormone disrupting chemicals.

[3] “The precautionary principle is detailed in Article 191 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (EU). It aims at ensuring a higher level of environmental protection through preventative decision-taking in the case of risk.

Opening the door for corporate takeover While the proposals threaten environmental and consumer protection, big business gets what it wants. Opportunities to participate in decision making are granted to corporations to intervene at the earliest stages of the decision making process.

While civil society has had little access to the negotiations, there are many instances where the papers show that industry has been granted a privileged voice in important decisions.

[4] The leaked documents indicate that the EU has not been open about the high degree of industry influence. The EU’s recent public report [5] has only one minor mention of industry input, whereas the leaked documents repeatedly talk about the need for further consultations with industry and explicitly mention how industry input has been collected.

[4] e.g. “While the US showed an interest, it hastened to point out that it would need to consult with its industry regarding some of the products” – Chapter ‘Tactical State of Play’, paragraph 1.1, Agriculture.

[5] ‘The Twelfth Round of Negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)’“