EU seeks public comment on US trade pact investment protection terms
(BRUSSELS) - The European Commission said Tuesday it will seek public comment on controversial investment protection provisions being negotiated as part of a massive EU-US free trade deal.
"I know some people in Europe have genuine concerns about this part of the EU-US deal. Now I want them to have their say," EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said.
"Some existing arrangements have caused problems in practice, allowing companies to exploit loopholes where the legal text has been vague," De Gucht noted in a statement.
Accordingly, the Commission will publish in early March the EU text of the protection provisions it wants included in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), seeking public comment over a three-month period.
The EU and United States began talks last year on the TTIP, the world's biggest free trade agreement, and have so far held three rounds, with the next due in March in Brussels.
Improving investment protection is an important element and includes what are known as Investor-to-state-dispute settlement (ISDS) procedures.
ISDS allows a foreign investor to bring a case directly against the country in which they have invested before an arbitration tribunal to seek redress.
However, critics, especially in Germany, say the ISDS system is too favourable to large companies at the expense of the wider public who do not have a similar right to bring firms to account.
Last month a large group of union and environmental groups called on the EU and United States to exclude ISDS as it in effect allowed corporations to challenge government policies before private tribunals.
"ISDS is a one-way street by which corporations can challenge government policies but neither governments nor individuals are granted any comparable rights to hold corporations accountable," the letter said.
EU officials said the public consultation period would not hold up work on other parts of TTIP.
The EU estimates a TTIP deal would bring annual benefits of 119 billion euros ($163 billion) for the bloc's 28 member states and 500 million people, and only slightly less for the United States.
US and EU leaders have set their sights on completing an agreement by late 2014.