business as usual

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grand majority of Parliament votes in favor of a regulation on investor-state lawsuits. Greens criticize the result sharply.

Investor-state dispute settlement ( ISDS ) has come into the focus of critics since the start of negotiations on a free trade agreement with the US (TTIP). ISDS means that foreign investors can sue the states hosting their investments in front of international courts when they see their rights and profit expectations violated. Often it is environmental or social legislation of a state which investors claim to be in violation of their investment expectations. Currently, for example, Vattenfall  is suing the German federal government for 3 billion euros because of the German nuclear phase-out. Since Lisbon, the EU has gained the competence on investment policy, and thus also on ISDS policy. This Regulation establishes rules on whether EU or Member States act as a defendant in ISDS proceedings and who pays in the case of successful investor claims.

Greens are against the inclusion of ISDS in trade agreements, as the EU is currently planning in the agreements with Singapore, Canada and the United States. We demand also a revision of the myriad of bilateral investment agreements between Member States and third countries which in many cases contain ISDS. However, we were defeated in the INTA Trade Committee on our proposal that the ECJ be assigned the function of a filter to decide on the admissibility of a claim before it can be taken up by an international arbitration tribunal. However, in the legally non-binding considerations of the Regulation, we were able to establish that foreign investors as a rule should not have any greater rights than domestic investors, which would indeed mean that ISDS is ruled out. This is a strong criticism of ISDS  but unfortunately will not have any legal consequences. source/suite

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Le 16 avril 2014, par 535 voix pour sur 766 eurodéputés et notamment grâce au votes quasi-unanimes conservateurs (230 PPE), libéraux (72 ADLE) et socialistes (155 S&D), a été adopté l'ISDS, cette fameuse clause que Washington impose aux européens dans le cadre de l'adoption du TTIP et qui consiste à à permettre aux "investisseurs" (multinationales et autres) d'attaquer les États (donc les contribuables) lorsque des changements législatifs pénalisent leurs activités économiques. En résumé, les citoyens contribuables devront payer des amendes à des entreprises étrangères si, par leurs votes, ils favorisent des régulations -environnementales, sanitaires ou autres- nuisibles au profits de ces dernières. Aucun média, hormis le site des Verts européens n'a rendu compte de ce vote. Via GEAB