International

Broad resistance to the proposed Investor-State Disputes Settlement (ISDS) system is forcing European Commissioner for external trade Cecilia Malmström on the defensive. On Tuesday the Commission published the long-awaited results of the public consultation on the matter. Almost 150,000 people contributed their views, almost all of them extremely critical in tone. The SP believes that scrapping the ISDS section in negotiations over the trade agreement with the USA, but also in the recently agreed treaty with Canada, is now unavoidable.

Today Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner for International Trade, released a number of texts related to negotiations on the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The texts concerning this trade agreement with the United States concern proposals from the European Commission on a number of issues including food safety, chemicals, and small and medium-sized businesses. The SP group in the European Parliament considers this to be a step in the right direction, but is far from satisfied.