More than 250 non-government organisations from across Europe have today released an alternative vision for a more democratic, just and sustainable Europe.
Intended to influence the debate on the future direction of Europe, this alternative vision is endorsed by organisations representing a multitude of public interest issues, including labour rights, culture, development, environment, health, women's rights, youth, and anti-discrimination groups.
Friends of the Earth Europe welcomes a decision by the European Court of Justice that trade agreements with investment provisions need to receive the scrutiny of national parliaments. The ruling comes at a time when citizens across Europe are increasingly concerned about the negative impacts of modern trade agreements, such as CETA and TTIP. They allow foreign investors to take governments to a business friendly tribunal if their profits are affected by public interest policies.
The European Commission today released new proposals for how the European Union deals with globalization issues.
Paul de Clerck from Friends of the Earth Europe reacted to the 'Harnessing Globalisation' paper:
The European Union should abandon plans to establish a global corporate court system, say Campact, WeMove.EU and Friends of the Earth Europe ahead of the end of a public consultation on the issue by the European Commissionon Wednesday March 15, 2017.
More than 280 000 citizens from across Europe have signed a petition against the plans, known as the 'multilateral investment court'. [1]
The EU-Canada trade deal ratified by the European Parliament today is a step backward for tackling some of the world's biggest crises and will do nothing to improve the lives of the majority of citizens in either region, according to organisations representing civil society, workers and the environment.
In this episode, we walk you through the different stages of the #StopCETA campaign over t
Joint Statement : 455 European and Canadian civil society groups call for rejection of CETA
We, the undersigned civil society organisations from Canada and Europe, hereby express our deep concern about the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the EU and Canada. During the long process of the deal's negotiations and legal check, we repeatedly pointed out major problems with the CETA text.
Today the European Parliament rejected a resolution to seek an opinion from the European Court of Justice on the compatibility of the investment chapter in CETA with EU Treaties [1], and continued its push to fast-track the controversial trade deal. [1]
The resolution was meant to clarify whether the sections on investment protection and the resolution of investment disputes between investors and states are in line with several EU Treaties.
European farmers are getting hit hard by free trade deals, a report from the European Commission states today. Following a request by 20 EU farm ministers the European Commission was obliged to carry out an assessment on the cumulative impacts on EU agricultural sectors by 12 current and proposed free trade agreements. The study published today concludes that the existence of whole EU farm sectors – such as pasture-fed beef production – will be at risk from such agreements [1].
A wave of civil disobedience by activists across Europe shed light on the European Commission, corporate lobbyists and governments for their role in pushing free trade deals such as CETA (EU-Canada) and TTIP (EU-US).
The actions took place in response to a call to participate in Round 2 of TTIP Game Over, a civil disobedient action platform calling for an end to all free trade deals. The call is supported by trade unions, farmers groups and NGOs from across Europe.