Spain Gets Bitter Costly Foretaste of its Beloved Trade Pacts
Published on Wolf Street, by Don Quijones, Aug 13, 2015.
US brokerage firm Schwab Holdings and Malta-based OperaFund Eco-Invest Sicav have lodged a new international complaint against the Spanish State over its recent cuts to renewable energy subsidies. The case will be heard in the International Center for Settlement Investment, a Washington DC-based investment arbitration institution that is a member of the World Bank.
It is the 19th complaint to date against the Spanish state over its cuts to renewable energy subsidies, propelling Spain to third place in the global leader board of nations facing Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) suits. In fact, the only two countries facing more suits are the two bugbears of international capital Venezuela (24 complaints) and Argentina (20).
As I wrote in The Global Corporatocracy is Just a Pen Stroke Away From Completion, the “investor-state dispute settlement” provision is what would give the new generation of trade treaties such as Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), and Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) their “claws and teeth” … //
… Yet now, in what can only be described as a master class in political hypocrisy, that same government cries foul of a system of international justice that it continues to wholeheartedly support — a system of justice that could soon cost Spanish taxpayers billions of euros in damages. Naturally, the government will not waver in its commitment to ISDS, for the simple reason that Spain’s largest companies will also be able to rake in billions by suing other governments for threatening their profits.
Spain’s renewable energy nightmare should serve as a stark warning about the threat posed by TTIP and its ISDS charter. If passed into law, it will establish a global corporate protection racket. A rigid framework of international corporate law will be imposed above local and national existing laws to exclusively protect the interests of corporations, relieving them of financial risk and social and environmental responsibility. From then on, every investment they make will effectively be backstopped by our governments and taxpayers; it will be too-big-to-fail on an unimaginable scale.
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Links:
India on SC restructuring, on Geopolitical Analysis, by K. N. Pandita, Aug 15, 2015;
on KASHMIR and IDPs, by K. N. Pandita:
Row over inviting the Speaker, Aug 14, 2015;
Who cares for the nation? Aug 8, 2015;
Beyond AIIMS’ narrative, Aug 4, 2015;
Secrets Must Remain Secret, on Spiegel Online International, conducted by Michael Sauga, Jörg Schindler and Peter Müller, Aug 14, 2015: Interview with german Intelligence Coordinator on NSA and Media Leaks Peter Altmaier on mistakes made by German intelligence, leaks of confidential information in Berlin and German timidity in the face of US spying;
The Pantomime of the Greek Deal, on Sturdyblog, July 10, 2015;
pour la sortie de l’euro et la souverainté populaire – Plaidoyer anti FN – Frédéric Lordon, 12.16 min, mise en ligne par Jeunes MRC, le 19 avril 2015 … Frédéric Lordon est directeur de recherche au CNRS et chercheur au Centre de sociologie européenne CSE …;
Un rabbin sur Israël, la Palestine et les musulmans, 11.21 min, uploaded by AntiShubohatFR, le 16 mars 2015 … parlé en anglais, sous-titres en français / spoken in english, subtitled in french – the Deen Show;
Steuervieh auf einer Steuerfarm – Das bist du, 13.20 min, von Londo Monaki am 10. Juni 2014 hochgeladen;
Harald Lesch – Zinseszins: Das perfekte Verbrechen, 15.27 min, von Londo Monaki am 12. Sept 2013 hochgeladen;
Website: Valdai Discussion Club, fostering a global dialogue about Russia.