to read Evan Greer's article published in The Guardian on May 8, 2015, click on
http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/2015/may/08/trans-pacific-partnership-obama-irony The TTIP agreement between the EU and the US creates a parallel private arbitration system where corporations can sue states for lost profits and decisions are irrevocable. Labor and environmental regulations can be invalidated as “takings” or “indirect expropriation.” Public interest laws can be chilled or invalidated as infringements of the “human right to profit” of foreign investors.
Fast Track, TPP and TTIP Should Be Scrapped!
The TPP is a massive, legally binding, agreement involving 12 countries that has been negotiated entirely behind closed doors by government officials and industry lobbyists. The text of the TPP agreement is classified. The public can’t see it. Even members of Congress’ access to the text is severely restricted, and they face criminal prosecution if they tell their constituents what they’ve read.
In fact, the only portions of the TPP text the public is able to see are those released by Wikileaks, an organisation President Obama has all but personally chased to the ends of the earth. Thanks to the leaked draft texts, we know the TPP could impact everything from internet freedom, to jobs, to national sovereignty, and even how much we pay for the medicines we need.