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I spoke with @aliceeire at the launch of this report in 2017 by the Comhlámh Trade Justice group. There are real and serious social implications of the CETA agreement for Ireland, Europe, Canada, and the global South https://twitter.com/Comhlamh/status/1337773174398783488
The text of the CETA (EU-Canada “mega-regional” trade & investment) deal was agreed between the EU and Canada in 2016, but needs to be ratified by every EU member state to come fully into force. Only around half have done so far, partly because of mass activism across Europe
Things have been relatively quiet on the Irish front since 2017. But the Irish government has now put it the onto the parliamentary agenda for this Tuesday – presumably to try guillotine through a ratification vote with minimum time & space for opposition https://twitter.com/sineadmercier/status/1337736658746290176
"New generation" deals like CETA go way beyond basic trade flows: everything from trade in goods & services to finance & intellectual property, (de)regulation in all sectors of the economy, plus substantial rights & protections for investors -the C in CETA is for 'comprehensive'
The implications and risks are huge for worker's rights, environmental protection, public health, food standards, for small farmers, public services - for democracy https://www.tni.org/en/publication/ceta-trading-away-democracy-2016-version
“Free” trade is not fair trade, and is also not really free – it brings hugely disproportionate structural advantages to capital and big corporations with larger economies of scale - ‘capitalism on steroids’ https://twitter.com/soundmigration/status/1337759914794643457
On investment protection, the research done shows that the type of investor vs. state legal mechanism which CETA follows has been overwhelmingly most beneficial to (and actively exploited by) the biggest multi-billion dollar companies
In the face of sustained activism & mass mobilisation, the original text of the CETA agreement was tweaked to repackage the 'Investor-State Dispute Mechanism' slightly as an 'Investor Court System', but the fundamental premise and problems remain the same https://twitter.com/davegibney/status/1337740847559929858
This was tinkering around the edges which specialists in international economic law like Gus Van Harten found did "very little to alleviate key concerns arising from the CETA's proposed special rights and privileges for foreign investors" https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1135&context=public_writing
Green Party reps were there at that @Comhlamh event in 2017, as they were at most of the events and demonstrations through the height of the activism on TTIP and CETA between 2014-2017.
Along with the socialist left and Sinn Féin, the Green Party maintained a position of clear opposition to CETA. They ran a "12 Reasons We Oppose CETA" campaign. They are now, all too predictably, part of the government proposing to push it through.
Will try and collect some other info & threads below on all this https://twitter.com/Trickstersworld/status/1338034815430500355
"utterly disastrous & stupid" https://twitter.com/aliceeire/status/1337788534602788866
opposition from scientists, trade unionists and activists, and even lawyers.. https://twitter.com/LNBDublin/status/1337827042373623809
thread ending with info on CETA's "zombie clause" https://twitter.com/attractaub/status/1337500822389841921
another thread with some of the Green Party's greatest hits for the record https://twitter.com/Trickstersworld/status/1337679113260306432
"a terrible deal for workers and environment" https://twitter.com/paulmurphy_TD/status/1338118948244611073
"CETA does not protect the environmental standards we desperately need"; "We're creating a system that gives excess power to corporations"; "We are calling for #StopCETA"
campaign organised by @UpliftIRL: https://twitter.com/UpliftIRL/status/1338102045908357123
I also spoke at number of events on TTIP & CETA over the years organised by @garethmurphyIE & @davegibney - their unions @fsuireland & @MandateTU have been doing vital work on this from the outset https://twitter.com/garethmurphyIE/status/1338082653464047620
Likewise @UniteunionROI @ConnectUnion @ifut @TUnionLeftForum & other unions have had clear analysis of detrimental impact on workers' rights and public services - @irishcongress overview here of 'why unions oppose TTIP & CETA: https://www.ictu.ie/download/pdf/no_deal.pdf
I also worked on a report with the @IrishCancerSoc which found that deals like TTIP (EU-US deal as it was proposed then) and CETA undermine the state's capacity to prioritise public health, and will result in the lowering of regulatory standards https://www.cancer.ie/about-us/news/eu-us-trade-deal-likely-to-affect-irelands-ability-to-pass-public-health-laws
on the adverse impact of these type of 'mega-regional' deals (in this case purely between global North economies) on the global South, this is worth reading: https://dro.dur.ac.uk/19870/
analysis from @TNInstitute on CETA's "significant threats to precautionary environmental, labour, consumer and public health policy" https://www.tni.org/en/publication/international-regulatory-cooperation-and-the-public-good
UN Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order: CETA "is a corporate-driven, fundamentally flawed treaty ... gravely endangers labour, health and other social legislation" https://www.ohchr.org/SP/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=20787&LangID=E
