International

The SP is delighted with the fresh leak of information on the negotiations over the megalomaniac Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) which Greenpeace revealed today, but extremely unhappy about its contents. Greenpeace's revelations on this occasion concern, amongst other documents, the energy chapter, which shows that the TiSA undermines the climate accord agreed at the end of last year in Paris.

Commenting on the revelations, SP Euro-MP Anne-Marie Mineur, who attended the climate conference in Paris, said: “The aim of trade treaties such as TiSA, the TTIP and CETA is to remove all barriers to trade, including trade in highly polluting tar sands oil and shale gas. Moreover, the limits within which a government can intervene are getting smaller and smaller. If we go down this road, the Paris Climate Accord will be in serious danger.”

Mineur is stressing the need for a public debate on the fundamental principles of the European Union's trade policy. “For years I've been urging maximum openness about the negotiations, precisely because of the huge social impact of such treaties,” she recalled. “It's not sufficient that MEPs are allowed to examine the documents. This has fundamental consequences for all of us. The debate must be public. I'd much rather see the European Commission make them public itself, but apparently more pressure will be needed before Commissioner Malmström will take that step.”