The agreement included an investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism, later tweaked and re-branded as ICS (Investment Court System) in February 2016, which could unleash a corporate litigation boom against Canada, the European Union and individual European Union member states, and could dangerously thwart government efforts to protect citizens and the environment.
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Saturday’s marches coincided with the return to Germany of its Economy Minister and Social Democrat leader Sigmar Gabriel who had visited Canada where he had dealt with matters linked to CETA. TTIP meanwhile has been called no done deal, especially given a potential change of government in the US.
Ahead of the convention, the SPD executive committee unanimously backed a new compromise on CETA which Gabriel agreed with left-wing lawmaker Matthias Miersch, one of the accord’s fiercest critics, according to a person familiar with the vote. SPD members requested a number of concessions such as a “detailed consultation process” between the European and national parliaments, and social groups.
“We need to say “no” to our approval in the European Council”, said Klaus Barthel, head of the SPD’s task force on employee matters, adding this would bolster the party’s credibility with voters.
“We are not reopening CETA”.
The European Commission hopes that CETA can finally be approved by ministers this week.
Gabriel said it would not be necessary to reopen negotiations for the agreement.
Global Justice Now’s Nick Dearden said: “CETA would open up our government to a deluge of court cases by North American multinational corporations and investors”. Their skepticism reflects mounting concern across Europe and in the USA over the impact of free-trade agreements.
Protesters argued that CETA would be a Trojan horse by allowing USA investors to sue European governments and have said that its terms imply forced privatizations.
Brussels and Washington have officially committed to sealing the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) before U.S. President Barack Obama leaves office in January.
Canadian Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland came to Wolfsburg to convince SPD skeptics that CETA would not jeopardize democracy or high regulatory standards, as critics argue.
Canada and Europe have spent years negotiating the trade deal, called the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA.
Negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP, started in 2013 – but even then, the deal wasn’t really met with much enthusiasm.
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However, he said he was optimistic “that we can convince our partners [in the coming weeks] that this is the right way forward”.
