The proposed EU-US trade deal could undermine public services throughout Europe, a new report from Corporate Europe Observatory has found, warning of “secretive collusion” between business and trade negotiators.
The report by the Brussels-based think tank, published on Monday, states that the ambitious deal under negotiation between the European Union and the United States “could endanger citizens’ rights to basic services like water and health” as negotiators on both side push to open up procurement markets.
“The corporate sector is pushing an agenda that threatens citizens and workers as a vast array of public services are set to be subject to liberalisation under the provisions of these agreements,” the general secretary of the European Federation of Public Service Unions Jan Willem Goudriaan said.
The European Commission rejected the allegations, noting that the current proposal “does not force governments to privatise or deregulate”. In addition, the Commission noted that publicly-funded health and social services, as well as public education services, are excluded from the talks.
The EU opened negotiations with Washington in June 2013 on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), with the aim of concluding the deal by the end of 2016, though there are increasing signs the accord will not be concluded before the end of President Barack Obama’s term.
With tariffs between the EU and US already quite low, much of the negotiations centre on the services markets and regulation, as negotiators seek to streamline regulations and liberalise the services sector.
While EU leaders, including German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president François Hollande, have backed the deal, both are facing significant public disquiet domestically. More than 100,000 people are estimated to have taken part in a protest in Berlin on Saturday against the proposal, according to police.
While the Government is strongly in favour of TTIP, a number of Irish MEPs including the three Sinn Féin MEPs and a number of Independents oppose it.
The report by Corporate Europe Observatory argues that groups such as the European Services Forum , a business representative group, have a “special relationship” with the commission, with the EU’s executive arm actively seeking input from business groups ahead of each negotiating round.
The next round of negotiations on the deal is scheduled to begin on October 19th in Florida, and is expected to focus on environmental and social standards.
EU Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly is one of a number of people to have criticised the commission’s lack of transparency on the TTIP negotiations.
Ms O’Reilly opened an inquiry into TTIP in July 2014, prompting the commission to publish key negotiating documents last January,the first time the EU has made trade documents public while bilateral trade talks are ongoing.
Following strong criticism of the inclusion in the trade deal of an investor state dispute settlement (ISDS) clause, which would give companies the power to sue governments in certain cases, EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom announced last month the establishment of a special investor court to settle disputes between investors and states which will replace the ISDS system.
