EU FARCE: Hundreds of treaties at risk as ECJ rules clause ILLEGAL : Express

According to a report in German newspaper Heise, the decision could affect nearly 200 treaty agreements between EU member states.

The verdict, published yesterday by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), could have a huge impact on investment protection agreements beyond the specific case – at least between two or more EU member states.

This ruling has been made as a result of a claim by Dutch insurance group Achmea against Slovakia, who in 2006 had partially reversed a lucrative liberalisation of the health insurance market.

The Achmea group, which had a subsidiary in Slovakia, then sued for lost profits, citing the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT), an investment protection agreement signed by Czechoslovakia and dissolved in 1993 with the Netherlands.

 

Source: EU FARCE: Hundreds of treaties at risk as ECJ rules clause ILLEGAL : Express

Dutch farmers, environmentalists join hands against TTIP | sdbast

← Seven things you need to know about the new state pension.

Source: Dutch farmers, environmentalists join hands against TTIP | sdbast

ISDS: the worst part of the TPP

Phil Ebersole's Blog

Source: What Now Cartoons.

Negotiations for the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement are essentially negotiations concerning business interests.  They reportedly are running into trouble on disagreements about dairy and auto parts imports and drug patents.

But from the standpoint of ordinary citizens, the most odious part of the TPP — and its sister proposals, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership agreement (aka TAFTA) and the Trade in Services Agreement — are the Investor-State Dispute Settlement provisions that allow an un-elected tribunal to penalize governments for enacting laws to protect the health and welfare of their citizens, if such laws unfairly deprive foreign corporations of expected profits.

Not compensation for actual losses, but compensation for hypothetical losses.

A letter signed by more than 100 legal scholars and former judges sums up the problem.

ISDS grants foreign corporations a special legal privilege, the right to initiate dispute settlement proceedings against…

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Parliament’s recommendations on TTIP talks

Original post from European Parliament Think Tank

‘……………Author Laura PUCCIO

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is currently being negotiated between the EU and the US as a comprehensive and ambitious trade agreement aiming to liberalise trade and investments as well as foster regulatory cooperation. Public opinion in some EU Member States shows fears related to investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) clauses in TTIP and, more generally, the impact of the future agreement on states’ regulatory freedom in the areas of the environment, consumer and labour law and data protection. The INTA Committee has adopted draft recommendations on the TTIP negotiations, due to be discussed during the June plenary.

At a Glance ES  DE  EN  FR  IT  PL

Publication type   At a Glance

Policy area   International Trade   Foreign Affairs

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