politics for the 99%

Published on The Independent.co.uk, by PAUL GALLAGHER, 27 Aug 2015.

European Commission officials have held hundreds of meetings with lobbyists to discuss the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) treaty – yet only around one in ten is with public interest groups.

The world’s biggest companies in finance, technology, pharma, tobacco and telecoms are dominating discussions with the EU executive body’s trade department responsible for the proposed EU-US free trade treaty, which could become the biggest such deal ever made.

Between January 2012 and February 2014, as TTIP discussions began, the Commission’s trade department (DG Trade) had 597 behind-closed-door meetings with lobbyists to discuss the negotiations, according to internal Commission files obtained by research group Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO).

There were 528 meetings (88 per cent) with business lobbyists while only 53 (9 per cent) were with groups such as trade unions and NGOs. The remainder were with other parties such as public institutions and academics … //

… Ms Scott Cato described the experience earlier this year comparing it to “a scene from a James Bond film”.

She said: “I don’t feel what I was granted access to contained the important details. Key information seems to have been retracted; there was little of interest. But what I did see did not leave me with any sense of reassurance, either that the process of negotiating this trade deal is democratic, or that the negotiators are operating on behalf of citizens. It reconfirmed that this is a corporate discussion, not a democratic one.”

(full text).

TTIP and TPP related Links:

• Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations, 31.30 min, on C-Span.org, Sept 4, 2015: Adam Behsudi spoke about negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement;
• The impact of TPP and TTIP, on Econo Times, Sept 1, 2015: There are currently two large trade agreements under negotiation that could have a major economic impact on the global economy as they involve a dozen Pacific countries, including the US, and the EU, and would intensify trade across both the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean …;
• Campaigners are key to getting secret TPP and TTIP trade deals published, on Russia Today RT, Aug 13, 2015;
• The Trouble With TTIP, uploaded by TheMrSirCharles, June 8, 2015 … a documentary about the dangers of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership trade talks being held between the European Union and the United States of America;
• TTIP/TAFTA et ses investisseurs tout-puissants expliqués en moins de 4 minutes, 3.46 min, mise en ligne par SumOfUs, le 7 Mai 2015;
• The Death of Democracy, a public talk on the TTIP, 98.04 min, uploaded by David Malone Green Party, Feb 21, 2015;
• TPP, The Dirtiest Trade Deal You’ve Never Heard Of, 2.40 min, uploaded by ExposeTheTPP, Nov 7, 2014;
• Trans-Pacific Partnership TPP – The Top Secret Trade Deal You Need to Know About, 56.50 min, uploaed by Moyers & Company, Nov 1, 2013 … Bill Moyers discusses the Trans-Pacific Partnership TPP with journalist Yves Smith and economist Dean Baker, then a preview of filmmaker Robert Greenwald’s new documentary Unmanned: America’s Drone Wars. Also a Bill Moyers essay on Obamacare’s rocky rollout;
• The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, on Congressional Research Service, December 12, 2011, 18 pdf-pages;
• Website: Expose the TPP.org;

Published on The Independent.co.uk:

• TTIP controversy: The European Commission and Big Tobacco accused of cover-up after heavily redacted documents released, by PAUL GALLAGHER, Aug 27, 2015;
• TTIP controversy: Secret trade deal can only be read in secure reading room in Brussels, by ZACHARY DAVIES BOREN, Aug 14, 2015: The European Commission is making the secret Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) trade deal even more secret, introducing a new rule that means politicians can only view the text in a secure ‘reading room’ in Brussels …;
• TTIP controversy: EU drops pesticide laws because US says it should, by ZACHARY DAVIES BOREN, May 22, 2015;
• What is TTIP and why does Cameron want to sign the biggest trade agreement in history? by HAZEL SHEFFIELD, May 13, 2015;

on en.wikipedia:

• Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership TTIP;
• Trans-Pacific Partnership TPP;

Other Links:

US State Dept. nervous about press reports of Russian military in Syria, on Russia Today RT, Sept 6, 2015;

Refugees in Hungary:

• Hundreds of refugees march from Budapest towards Austria – video, 1.38 min, on The Guardian, Sept 5, 2015;
• Hungary: no more buses for marching refugees – as it happened, on The Guardian, by Nadia Khomami, Sept 5, 2015;
• Share your experience;

on Voltairenet.org:

• The Russian army is beginning to engage in Syria, on Voltairenet.org, by Thierry Meyssan, Aug 24, 2015: a profound and significant change has just occurred in the Levant – the Russian army has begun to engage against terrorism in Syria. Although Russia has been absent from the international scene since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and although it is moving with care, it has just created a Russo-Syrian Commission, has begun supplying weapons, sharing intelligence, and sending advisors. All of this is more or less coordinated with the White House …;
• Die russische Armee beginnt sich in Syrien zu engagieren, von Thierry Meyssan, 24. August 2015: In der Levante hat sich soeben ein tiefgreifender und bedeutsamer Wandel vollzogen: Die russische Armee beginnt sich gegen den Terrorismus in Syrien zu engagieren. Während sie seit der Auflösung der Sowjetunion auf der internationalen Bühne fehlt und obwohl sie mit Vorsicht vorangeht, hat sie kürzlich eine russisch-syrische Kommission gegründet, Waffen und Aufklärung geliefert und Berater geschickt. All dies mehr oder weniger abgestimmt mit dem Weißen Haus …;
• L’Ukraine et la Turquie créent une Brigade internationale islamique contre la Russie, dans Voltairenet.org, par Thierry Meyssan, le 12 août 2015: Alors que les États-Unis et l’Iran viennent de signer un accord de paix au Proche-Orient, la Turquie et l’Ukraine ont trouvé un débouché pour les jihadistes de Syrie et d’Irak : combattre la Russie en Crimée;

Interview with the Russian Resident Vladimir Putin: I would really like to see Europe demonstrate some real independence and sovereignty, conducted by Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS), published on Current Concerns, Aug 26, 2015;

The Good Country Index – which country does the most good for the world? – Simon Anholt, 17.54 min, uploaded by TED, July 2, 2014.