International

The European Union should withdraw from the negotiations on the TiSA, the Trade in Services Agreement. This was the SP’s response to the latest leaked document concerning the treaty. Sections published on the WikiLeaks website show that the right of national governments to determine their policy would be put in serious jeopardy by TiSA, which would also force state-owned enterprises to conduct themselves as if they were private corporations.

SP Euro-MP Anne-Marie Mineur is fed up of the secrecy surrounding the plan to create a single internal market covering fifty countries. “We see it continually.” she complains. “The European Commission doesn’t take its lead from the people’s wishes, but in this case is selling off publicly owned enterprises off its own bat. Only when the negotiations are complete will the outside world be allowed to know anything about them. Even more than with other treaties, the Commission is treating the people as if they’re stupid.”

The right of countries to be able to determine their policies for themselves is being put in jeopardy because trading partners will have to be given control over policy. “Surely Panama can’t be permitted to discuss it with us if we decide to save our banks,” says Mineur, “or the United States be allowed to interfere if we alter the safety norms for gas extraction.”

The US proposal to force state-owned enterprises to behave like private corporations will meet resistance from the SP. “Look at ProRail, for example,” Mineur suggests, citing the Netherlands’ state-owned organisation responsible for maintenance of the national railway network infrastructure. “We certainly don’t want to see that company being guided by purely commercial considerations. We can do without these kind of American conditions.”